No way...I work with babies.
They slime the front of my shirt all the time.
They cough and sneeze in my face.
They TRY to put their hands in my mouth.

I wash my hands probably at least 30 times a day.

My office only has one other person in it so I am not too bad. But I work in a very dirty enviroment most of the time. Good dirt tho- I wash my hands all the time as before we went to organic growing I had the possibility of chemicals being on my hands. I was always afraid that I would ingest something bad!

Trish in SC

I hate to touch handles, gas pumps, shopping carts, etc. But, like Jeaninwa I work with babies all day long..I have for the last 29 years and I'm used to their germs. I wear slobber and spit up until I have a "chance" to get changed, which could be hours! Makes no sense, but I hate "outside" germs. I do wash my hands constantly and clean their toys every few days, but their germs don't bother me as much as someone else's. I'd be pi$$ed too if someone did that to me. That's just rude to begin with...and unsanitary! My DH would have flipped, he won't eat at salad bars, potlucks, or buffets because everyone is hanging over the food. I am getting more and more freaked out by them too the more I see what goes on around the food that is exposed to the public.

I am not a germ-a-phobe but our company restrooms all have an automatic sanitizer machine as you walk out the door. It instructs you to open the door with your left hand and let the machine dispense the sanitizer into your right. Once outside the restroom, rub your hands together. I rub it right up to my elbows if I have short sleeves on. Come cold and flu season, I am usually the only one not sicker than a dog at the office.

But, I do not get upset at other people's habits. I knew someone who was in the restroom a lot because she drank 8 glasses of water a day like every doctor and dietitian suggests. :-) If she washed her hands every single time they would become so dry they would crack.

I just try to keep myself as clean as possible without getting "Monkish" (LOL) about it and let others do their thing.

Jodi-

I work with homeless and mentally ill folks so if I had a germ phobia I would go insane myself. I work with a few folks who have literally not taken a shower in years.

I wash my hands alot and try not to touch door knobs, but that's about it. I personally think that all the antibacterial stuff is not good. I think it is only making certain bacteria stronger, just like antibiotics. Exposure to some germs makes for stronger immune systems, IMO.

I also work w/ children so I'm immune to getting grossed out by them. I get sneezed on, peed on and have those lovely snail trails on the front of my clothes, too. I do hate it when people who know better, don't wash their hands or lick their fingers when eating (like popcorn, then stick their hand back in your bag). I used to work w/ a guy we all suspected of having HIV. Every time we celebrated an office party, he was the first to cut the cake, lift it up with knife and fingers, LICK his fingers and then proceed to serve the next piece with those dirty fingers. Nasty stuff. He died the following year after being very sick with AIDS. We were right about him.

At home, if one of us is sick, I use paper plates and utensils until they are well again. We all have our own cups and utensils, actually. My mom was very scrupulous and taught me to be this way. We like it. She used to tell me that when she met dad, his family was a mess when it came to things like this. He would think nothing of taking the cup she had just drank out of and he would use it or his mom would use it. She hated it and taught him different. Dad loved this and became worse than mom was. We have never passed on a cold of any kind or stomach viruses to each other. Same with our towels. We each have our own. It's just a very personal thing. We're quirky.

I think the woman who helped herself to your popcorn was rude and I hate to see that behavior too. But I'm not germophobic at all. My degree (about a hundred years ago!) was in microbiology/bacteriology so I know what's out there and maybe should be grossed out and terrified all the time. But I also know that most of it isn't going to 'get me' and most of it is fragile. I do wash my hands frequently, primarily because of cold/flu viruses; it's a good preventative and makes sense. But it don't think of any of it as gross - it's life and life is wet and messy!

I'm not like Monk, but I'm a bit of a germphobe. I watched as someone I loved died of both methicillin-resistant Staph and necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria), I have pretty low tolerance for folks with poor handwashing habits.
(Jenn - I understand that your clients are some of the least fortunate among us and that hygiene is not necessarily an option or priority- this is not a dig at them.)

I'm so UNgerm-a-phobic. And I rarely if ever get sick because I do expose myself to them -- a lot. Having had worked in a drugstore where germs run rampant, I know washing hands and using anti-bacterial is a waste of time. I even licked my fingers to count money, knowing full well my hands had touched many paper bills that contain who knows what in them. Life is too short to be a germ-a-phobic. Life actually is better when you're not because you expose yourself to a lot of stuff and build immunities to them.

I laugh when i see the wet wipes at the grocery store for people to wipe the handle bars of the carts off. yet they toss that wet wipe in the trash and then pick up fruits and veggies, canned and boxed foods off the shelves without thinking about it. How do you think those items got on the shelves, and do you think you're the only person since the staff member who put it there, that touched it? Then the cashier and bagger touch your items, and you go home and don't wipe them off again before you put those items in your cupboard. What are the odds you never washed your hands afterwards, or that you touched your hand to your face or childs face? See what I mean about life being too short? You can't fight the germs.

There is no substitute for washing your hands -- for a good 60 seconds. Sanitizers do nothing to kill some germs. (Don't let your doctor touch you before he WASHES. You *know* he's been surrounded by more than the garden variety of germs!)

At home, use your dishwasher rather than hand wash dishes. Clean your telephone, your TV remote, the handles on the refrigerator and cabinets. Don't swab yesterday's dishcloth all over your countertops. (A study showed that bachelors' countertops are cleaner than those constantly wiped by moms. Yikes!)

I wash hands frequently and I always wash my hands as soon as I get home from being out anywhere. I don't tend to get sick, and I think that is one reason why. Health experts say that the biggest thing we can do as a society to protect our health is to wash our hands frequently. I do. It is as simple as that. And I also keep a pump bottle of handcream right by the sink.

Some stores and restaurants are going to the air driers that dry your hands quickly, but then offer no towels with which to open the door. Yuck! I know there are people who don't wash their hands after using the restroom and it's not always possible to use your sleeve to open the door. If there is no garbage can by the door, I throw my towel and hope to hit the can but make no apologies if I don't. I hope they will get the message.

I'm with you,debby.
I remember reading James Herriotts books about being a country vet in Scotland in the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's. The knackerman would come and pick up the deceased animals from the farmers and haul them home. There he would process them into "meal". The knackermans kids grew up in a yard full of animals that had died from diptheria, pnuemonia, and who knows what else. The author observed that the knackermans kids were the healthiest ones in the district. I'm sure their immune systems were cranked up to the max.

Ron

Being exposed to germs will strengthen your immune system. I don't give germs a second thought.

Ditto to lindakathy. I do wash my hands often.

I'm not a germophobe, I'll let my Dad be the main one of those in our family, but I'm going on a mini-vacation and for the last week I've refused to go anywhere but the vet's office (a had-to-keep appt) because I'm scared I'll catch a cold at the worst possible time. I've had Woody running all my errands, he's nice enough to do that for me. Normally, I don't worry about it and usually catch 1-2 colds a year, if that many, but I don't want to risk it right now.

The woman with the popcorn-grabbing hands? I'd have stood up, shoved the whole thing at her and told her to enjoy it because I wouldn't eat from it again, thanks for nothing. If you don't TELL them, they will never learn. I hate when people stick their hands in my food, germs or no germs, it's just rude. Sometimes, with some people, there's no way to get your point across without beating them over the head with it. Subtlety just doesn't always work.

I don't worry that much about germs but my DS does. It got so bad with him washing his hands all the time that they were cracked and bleeding. He was also getting to the point where he was totally obsessed. He was diagnosed with OCD and put on Paxil. He still worries about germs, diseases and expiration dates but doesn't do himself any harm.

But even though I don't worry about germs, I would have throw the popcorn away too. That was very rude of your co-worker. She should have asked for some and should have poured it out, not stuck her hand in the bag. That is gross, cold germs or not.
Clare

Next time she tries that, just offer her the rest of the bag, saying that you have a phobia of eating from the same bag of popcorn that someone else has eaten out of. Sick or not. And I would add the "sick or not" comment!

For the most part, I don't worry about germs. Tho I did get pink eye from a shopping cart (I think) this fall, and did use the wipes at the store for the cart handles for a while to make sure I didn't get it again, or possibly spread it ( I had to go get the medicine to get rid of it).
The rest of the time, I don't worry about it unless we are traveling and I am constantly using public restrooms.

Tami...who rarely gets sick, but DB & DSIL are clean nuts and they and the kids are sick from the time school starts in the fall until it's out in the summer!

The older I get the more germophobic I get. I always wash my hands as soon as I come in the house. I have excema and can't use the antibacterial wipes or lotion. I just hate to touch the gas pump handles but I do. I, too, always use a paper towel to open rest room doors when I leave.
I rarely get a cold so I think all the precautions I take pay off.

I see so many people who are so OC about germs,that it gets to be stupid!
There are germs all around us in the air we breath and on every single thing we come in contact,so I don't think that wiping a shopping cart or some other silly thing is going to make one damm bit of difference...carried to the extreme though it can play havoc with our immune systems,,,to the point that some harmeless little germ can become deadly to us because we have tried to sterilize our bodies and all objects we touch.
Come on people we have to use common sense and cover our mouth etc when we sneeze,but wiping and sterilizing everything we touch is KILLING us!
No wonder so many children are allergic to so many things....they've never been subjected to germs...I've even hear of mothers sterilizing all their children's toys daily...Give me a break...Please!

I se so many people who aaaaaaare OC about germs,that it gets to be stupid!
There are germs all around us in the air we breath and on every single thing we come in contact,so I don't think that wiping a shopping cart or some other silly thing is going to make one damm bit of difference...carried to the extreme though it can play havoc with our immune systems,,,to the point that some harmeless little germ cab
n become deadly to us because we have tried to sterilize our bodies and all objects we touch.
Come on people we have to use common sense and cover our mouth etc when we sneeze,but wiping and sterilizing everything we touch is KILLING us!

Sorry about the double post...sometimes it just happens!