A few days ago, Buzzardbilly posted a blog called A Hillbilly Will Help You Out in which she focused on two occasions where friendly mountain folk helped her out in public restroom settings.
One comment was that the toilet seat in a public restroom was actually not as filthy as the things your hands touch in the restroom. And, that's true. I once read or heard that a pubic lice (crab) cannot live on a toilet seat for very long at all. They need a host and a cold old toilet seat is not going to cut it.
Now for the TMI and confession part. I do not lay down toilet paper, use the complimentary toilet seat covers (if you can find one) nor do I "hover". I just sit down. Because, if there is some poor crab lying in wait for a host, he won't find anything warm and hairy on that part of my body to snuggle in and I don't put my orifices on the seat. They are positioned directly in between the hole. The only part of my body that touches the seat is the back of my legs and some bottom flesh.
I'm a quick peer and I never do #2 in a public facility unless it is an absolute, dire emergency. So, I figure my contact with the seat is minimal anyway.
Trust me, when I was pregnant with both kids, especially Sissy (who I could swear was riding my bladder like a mechanical bull for 39 weeks), I had to pee alot. I became very familiar with all the restrooms up and down Kanawha County. For the record, The Cracker Barrel in Cross Lanes is always nice, it smells good and seems sanitary.
So, I got to thinking about the sinks and door handles on public restrooms, which is where the majority of filth and germs live. I DO wash my hands and I do try to use the paper towel to then open the door to exit the ladies' room.
Another place I suspect is a freaking germ wagon is the steering wheel in my car (or yours, or yours or even yours!). Let's think on this. We go out about our business and imagine all the items at a store or restaurant that your hands come into contact with. Money or your debit card, which is handled by the cashier then back to you. Front doors. Items in stores that you fondle and either buy or put back. Then, you hop into the car and drive home.
I can't tell you how relieved I am to get home because the first thing I do is wash my hands.
And, yes, I carry the Purrel type of antibacterial, but nothing really says clean to me like warm water and real soap!
Make sure that you turn the faucet off with your paper towel after you dry your hands. We teach our preschoolers this.
ReplyDeleteI keep in the car: a 25-count packet of Armor All wipes (for the things that the sun could crack if too much ammonia is left to set), a 25-count packet of Windex multi-surface wipes, and a 25-count packet of Lysol or Clorox disinfecting wips (for the nasty stuff).
ReplyDeleteI clean the inside of my car while I have to wait to pick someone up.
Oh, it's not poaching! I love continuing a good conversation in a new direction.
Know what else skeezes me out to touch in the public restroom: the maxi-pad and tampoon dispenser and the little in-stall trashcans just for that stuff...when you know they couldn't possibly have washed yet.
Eh - I am of the "contact with more germs makes your immune system stronger" camp.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I wash my hands and all that, but I just go ahead and open the door - no towels or nothing.
One day I shall probably die of this behavior.
Maybe this is a guy thing, but I figure I'm exposed to so many germs anyway the least of my worries is the bathrooms. Although I do avoid public ones at all costs. Just hate public bathrooms in gereral.
ReplyDeleteI heard the same thing about the germs on toilet seats not surviving, but honestly, do you want your butt cheeks or legs touching the same place as some stranger's butt touched?
ReplyDeleteWhat if they dribbled on the seat and you didn't see it?
If there aren't seat covers, I'll make one out of toilet paper. I also use the hand towels to open the doors. Not that I'm a germaphobic, but... there are just things that are too gross and people not washing their hands then touching the door knob..ewwwwww
Men are so lucky. Stand up..pee...shake it out...(hopefully wash) and walk out...
Well, not all men are lucky now that I think about it. Some have to search first...once they find it, then they can pee...shake it off...walk out.
ReplyDeleteOthers are even less fortunate. They need a peter kit. It contains a magnifying glass, tweezers and pepper.
First they hold the magnafying glass... sprinkle pepper on "it", and when it sneezes, they grab it with the tweezers. Then they pee... shake it off... walk out.
Your keyboard and mouse are probably the biggest culprits for germ keepers :-s So don't forget to give those a wipe down with some purrell!
ReplyDeleteI don't worry too much about a toilet seat (unless it just looks nasty) but I do always try and open the door holding the handle in a bizarre way thinking that other people probably haven't touched it there lol
I also believe that a few germs won't kill us..heck our stomachs and mouths are full of the helpful little buggars!
Hmmm...I have to go out today and I will be hard pressed to want to pee anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a Depends would be noticeable beneath a dress?
I sit after peering. Might wipe the seat if I think something's there. My hovering skills suck.
ReplyDeleteI do the hand washing thing too. I love that feeling of washing the day off of them.
I hover...helps build muscles in the thigh area
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this one! Someday, I'll have the courage to share one of my public bathroom posts.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, the Barboursville Target has the best public restrooms evah.
I have never been able to hover and pee. I have to come in contact with something solid or my muscles won't relax.....LOL
ReplyDeleteYou should clean your steering wheel.
ReplyDeleteI carry the Wet Wipes with Antibacterial/Lemon in my car. Plus purel. I also keep a large pump of the germ gel on my desk.
ReplyDeleteJust in case.
I do not hover. I will die eventually, and probably not from sitting on a public toilet.
I HOPE, anyway!
you are a a hoot....if there are no seat covers i drape toilet paper all over the seat and then manage to pee enough to soak the paper and get the back of my legs damp from the creepage....then i have to take my baby wipes out of my purse to wipe my legs....eewwiee. i have never been able to do #2 in public and i am old....even staying in a hotel is a no goer place.
ReplyDeleteI had to pipe back in to LOL at Kenju because my muscles have the exact opposite reaction when touched with something solid...of course, I'm not thinking of bathroom here.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Rosemary (with a cat picture that looks like my dear departed Ruby), you are a woman after my own heart. Except for the No. 2 part. For me, if Mr. Dumper's pounding at the door I must answer it. If he's not pounding, I make it home.
"complimentary toilet seat covers " + paper ass gaskets.
ReplyDeleteI saw this on a Dateline once. The dirtiest place in a public restroom is actually the floor. So never set your purse down! And the dirtiest stall is the first.
ReplyDelete