An Observation While Traveling

People do not wash their hands.

This is one of the most repulsive realities I witness on a regular basis. In and out of airport restrooms as I am; I have never witnessed so many people practicing such poor sanitation practices. This is a very likely culprit for why people so often get sick while traveling - far more likely in my opinion than simply breathing the air in the planes.

Maybe it’s my culinary food safety training that cues me into this. I guess people don’t realize the amount of bacteria that gets on their hands when in a public restroom. I mean you find e.coli and fecal coliform on money, keyboards and handrails so why do people think any surface in a restroom would be different?

The Discovery channel’s Mythbusters once did an episode where they tested the myth that airborne toilet-water droplets would land on your toothbrush and carry “poo-particles” with it. They found that not only could they culture the bacteria found in poo off of the toothbrushes in a normally used bathroom but also off of the control toothbrush that never came any where near a bathroom. Scary, huh?

Now consider that on a normal person’s hand at a normal room temperature these bacteria double every twenty minutes! We’re talking exponential growth! Human hands that have been even slightly contaminated and are not washed within four hours could potentially carry enough bacteria to sicken a person. In the case of small children, the elderly or someone with a lowered immune system it could have the potential to kill.

Then there are those that think they are ok if they simply run their hands under some water before they leave a restroom. People, what is the last thing you touch when you rinse your hands? The faucet knob. What is the first thing everyone touches after they have “done their business?” The faucet knob. This is why those of us clued in turn off the water with a paper towel while you gross germ spreaders think we’re just displaying an OCD. The (sick) joke is actually on you!

I wish there was an activist group that would stand outside public restrooms and humiliate everyone who leaves without washing their hands. Maybe I’ll start one…World Activists for Stronger Hygiene or W.A.S.H!