Germaphobe
I am not one. I do know others that are though. I know or have known people that bath after they come home from any place. Refuse to touch public bathroom doors or public transportation hand holds. I don’t remember seeing hand sanitizer everywhere when I was a kid. When did we become a society with this fear to touch things or what others might have? Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not mocking those that have a sensitivity to these situations. I’m sure they’re far cleaner then I and are sick way less then me. I just wonder how we, or they, got to be this way. I’m not concerned about what I might touch or catch when I’m out side of the house. I’m not licking the bus seats and I’m not sneezing in to my hand and then shaking others. But it’s not a concern for me. I think I place most blame on the media for it’s fear mongering.
Are you concerned about touching things when you’re out of your house?
Play Asia
March 13th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
I manage to be both a germaphobe and not one at the same time. i can sometimes be weird and use my foot to flush the toilet if i’m in a public bathroom, but most of the time i really don’t care that much. after all, there’s germs everywhere. hand sanitizer simply evolves germs so i avoid it. hand sanitizer says on it that it kills like 99% of germs. well, that 1% that doesn’t die, lives to multiply, and now there’s a whole bunch of germs who aren’t affected by the hand sanitizer.
March 14th, 2012 at 6:34 am
What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger. Or rather, if you go about avoiding any and all germs or illnesses like that in life, you’re not going to build up any sort of resistance, and when the time comes that you do get sick, it’s just going to affect you that much more.
Sure, being cleanly is important when you’re dealing with stuff like food or hospitals, but I’ve yet to hear someone catching anything remotely serious that’s somehow only spread by touching a handrail or from whatever surfaces in a public toilet or the like.
Sure, I don’t like the idea of having a fly land on my food, but I hardly think it’s going to kill me or it spoils my sandwich or whatever just because of that minuscule contact either.
I’ve never bothered using antiseptic on any cuts or grazes in either – I leave them to the open air to scab over once they stop bleeding, and never had an infected wound in my life. For that matter, I can’t remember ever getting food poisoning from eating anything bad – the rare occasion from a stomach bug that seems to pass around work or at home, but not actually from eating anything.
It’s not like I’m going out of my way and eating raw chicken or anything, but perhaps I’ve just had dumb luck in avoiding anything worse than the occasional flu/cold for the most part, but I reckon that the human body is far more resilient to what we’re exposed to in everyday life than people give it credit for.
March 14th, 2012 at 7:47 am
Actually it pays to not be a germophobe. I’m careful at times yes, but for the most part… not. My love says I am one though as I tell him to be a bit more sanitary at times. (and really, when your sick, you should have the courtesy to keep your hands clean and thus, the surfaces you touch) IT pays though as you generally are healthier in the end, and succumb less sicknesses. I get sick once or twice a year (not counting allergies. damn overactive immune system) No we don’t have kids, and when we do, I will teach them good manners when it comes to being sick so as NOT to transfer their bugs. I’m sure I’ll get sick more but eh. Snotty nosed kids for you. Its also good for long term health.. speaking of kids. Kids who grow up in squeaky clean laboratory conditions end up with more allergies and health issues generally. Playing in the dirt is good for you!
March 14th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
I keep it pretty clean when it comes to preparing food and washing my hands after using the bathroom. Other than that, I’m not too worried about germs.
March 15th, 2012 at 10:44 am
There are excellent pragmatic reasons for encouraging good hygiene among members of society, but you are right that it has gone too far. My biggest concern is the rampant overuse of antibiotics. Providing an environment in which only the strong/most resilient strains of a bug survive is just asking to for it in the long run. Funny how short-sighted people are. We’ll avoid minor illness while knowingly risking the possibility of major illness for which ABs are ineffective. Worst part is that doctors (at least here) prescribe them for almost no reason.