Ever seen people use a Kleenex as a sort of finger-condom whenever they have to touch something that might have cooties, like a bathroom door handle? This behavior amuses me, because I'm way off the other end of the scale in terms of germ phobia. So I started noodling about it. Logically, I'd think that either I need rubber gloves or I don't need anything. But what do I do to pick up cat puke? I grab a paper towel! :-)
I've used a couple of layers of paper towel to pick up DJ-poo before. I think that we handle things like that -- and doorknobs -- quickly enough that germs don't have time to pass through. But I mostly just wash my hands a few times a day, and assume most of what I pick up gets rinsed away. I'm careful, not phobic.
Yeah, for picking up animals' surprises I mainly just like the fact that a paper towel insulates me from the ickyslimy feeling. I'd pick it up without if I had to (and then I'd wash). But I'm weird. I pick up bugs and stuff, too. :-)
Well, you do get less on your hands by doing that, so what does get through should be easier to clean off.
Yeah. Presuming that neither Kleenex nor handwashing is a perfect filter, how many Kleenexes (Kleenices?) equal one handwashing? See, we never THINK about this stuff! We could all be doing it all wrong!
But, neither do I enjoy licking the lint trap from my dryer..
Ugh, what an image. Now there's something I'm unlikely to try any time soon.
Ever seen people use a Kleenex as a sort of finger-condom whenever they have to touch something that might have cooties, like a bathroom door handle?
That actually will work for door handles and such. The main thing to do is wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.
Icky stat: Med students staked out bathrooms at a CDC conferance. Doctors from all over where there. 83% of the male doctors did not wash their hands after using the loo. 50% of female doctors did not wash their hands. Yuck, yuck, yuck....
For men, there's another interesting issue: washing one's hands BEFORE using the loo. If they're going to be touching their genitals, they could be accepting disease pathogens that way just as surely as if they were rubbing their eyes.
I sometimes use Kleenex or paper towels like this (not often for bathroom doors -- it's usually too inconvenient to get the paper towel thrown away afterwards). The *real* reason isn't to avoid germs but to amuse others. I'm glad to know it works on you. :-)
Actually, the way I look at it is that everything has some probability of making you sick -- it's never 0% or 100%. Some situations have higher probabilities than others. If I change some of the higher-probability situations to lower-probability situations, I will tend to get sick less often.
Using Kleenex isn't going to change a situation to zero probability, but I think there are cases where it will reduce the number of germs by an order of magnitude or more, which could have a noticible impact on my chances of being sick. I notice that when something is dirty and I touch it with Kleenex, my hands often end up without visible dirt, while if I touch something similarly dirty without Kleenex my hands are more likely to have noticible dirt. So it seems reasonable to me that if it reduces visible particles like dirt it's likely to also reduce invisible particles like bacteria and viruses. Some of what is visibly reduced includes fine dust and mildew (when cleaning the bathroom). I don't know with much certainty that it affects microbes, it just seems more likely than not baring more scientific data.
Possible counter-point: people who don't do this aren't sick any more than people who do, in my experience. In fact, among the extremely germ-phobic people I know (one woman in particular comes to mind), she's sick a lot more than I am. My extremely unscientific viewpoint is that immune systems need exercise, but what do I know? *shrug*
The point that intrigues me particularly is that most people don't really examine the issue - they just do what they're more comfortable doing, and then justify it later. Myself definitely included. A lot of life is that way, I suppose. How dull it would be if we all spent lots of time thinking about Kleenex!
No, wait. Cooties you can get through Kleenex. Boy cooties especially, you can get through anything the boy previously touched. (Girl cooties, of course, don't exist.)
Really? What if the boy only touched ONE SIDE of the Kleenex and you only touched the OTHER side? Would you get cooties then? I didn't learn this in grade school! I'm so left out! :-)
You're absolutely right, though, that girl cooties don't exist. Anyone who thinks they do is obviously silly.
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That was a very LADYLIKE schnort and belly laugh, of course. :-)
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Not sure quite where you are going with this one...
I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Using Kleenex as a dental dam doesn't sound so appealing though. But, neither do I enjoy licking the lint trap from my dryer..
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Yeah. Presuming that neither Kleenex nor handwashing is a perfect filter, how many Kleenexes (Kleenices?) equal one handwashing? See, we never THINK about this stuff! We could all be doing it all wrong!
But, neither do I enjoy licking the lint trap from my dryer..
Ugh, what an image. Now there's something I'm unlikely to try any time soon.
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
That actually will work for door handles and such. The main thing to do is wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.
Icky stat: Med students staked out bathrooms at a CDC conferance. Doctors from all over where there. 83% of the male doctors did not wash their hands after using the loo. 50% of female doctors did not wash their hands. Yuck, yuck, yuck....
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
too inconvenient to get the paper towel thrown away afterwards). The *real* reason isn't to
avoid germs but to amuse others. I'm glad to know it works on you. :-)
Actually, the way I look at it is that everything has some probability of making you sick -- it's
never 0% or 100%. Some situations have higher probabilities than others. If I change some
of the higher-probability situations to lower-probability situations, I will tend to get sick less
often.
Using Kleenex isn't going to change a situation to zero probability, but I think there are cases
where it will reduce the number of germs by an order of magnitude or more, which could have
a noticible impact on my chances of being sick. I notice that when something is dirty and I
touch it with Kleenex, my hands often end up without visible dirt, while if I touch something
similarly dirty without Kleenex my hands are more likely to have noticible dirt. So it seems
reasonable to me that if it reduces visible particles like dirt it's likely to also reduce invisible
particles like bacteria and viruses. Some of what is visibly reduced includes fine dust and
mildew (when cleaning the bathroom). I don't know with much certainty that it affects
microbes, it just seems more likely than not baring more scientific data.
Re: I'm not sure quite where I'm going with it either
The point that intrigues me particularly is that most people don't really examine the issue - they just do what they're more comfortable doing, and then justify it later. Myself definitely included. A lot of life is that way, I suppose. How dull it would be if we all spent lots of time thinking about Kleenex!
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Remembering my elementary school lessons..... :)
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You're absolutely right, though, that girl cooties don't exist. Anyone who thinks they do is obviously silly.
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(o/~The sexual life of the cootie/ Is stranger than anyone thinks...)