One of the issues that has bothered me over the last couple of years, is my biggest pet peeve I have seen at my current occupation dealing with Joe Public. You know, for most of my career I have worked at some really nice places where the patrons are generally from higher income levels. That does not make these people better than anyone else and what I'm going to talk about will be said by many to be a generalization, but this is something that I truly need to get off my chest and this forum is the perfect place to do it.
When I was a child, before I could even remember, certain things were instilled in me and ingrained in me as proper behavior and discipline -- manners. From a young age, most of us, as one of our first training habits, are taught to wash our hands. Usually during this time the parent will flush the toilet for the child, but shortly after being taught to properly wash our hands, we are taught the process of flushing the toilet after we utilize the bathroom.
All through my life, I have witnessed people who use public bathrooms who neither flush the toilet (urinal) or wash their hands after utilizing the facilities. This is truly disgusting. I have gotten to the point where I try to not touch anything when I'm in a public restroom during normal operating hours of business. Do parents honestly not teach their children proper sanitation when it comes to this issue?
Tonight, I went to the men's bathroom during the night. I honestly wish that we had an employee bathroom of our own, but most smaller restaurants do not offer a private restroom facility for their employees. When I went into the bathroom, I noticed a boy who must've been around age 5. He was using urinal. His father was in the first toilet stall and he was doing what men do standing up. Well I went over into the second stall to do what I had to do and as I was relieving myself, I heard the boy finish.
I guess the father finished also and then he proceeded to state, "Come on son, let's get back to our chicken." The son stated to the father, "Wait a second daddy, we need to wash our hands!" The father next stated, "You can wash your hands, but I'm going back to the table, come on your sister is waitin'" The little boy washed his hands and the father continued out of the bathroom.
That makes me sick and blows my mind. Apparently, the boy is going to have to teach his father a thing or two. Who ever taught the boy to wash his hands after relieving himself, thank you and thank God. Just think of all of the kids who would learn the terrible example from their slap happy pappy.
I have witnessed this so many times over the last couple of years. I bet half of the people in this area don't wash their hands when they use the bathroom. There is no excuse to not wash your hands and utilize proper sanitation habits. I don't care if you're drunk. I don't care if you're in a hurry. I don't care if you're just nasty. Proper sanitation is a responsibility. It is a way to keep the public healthy.
Anymore, I do everything I can to no longer touch the bathroom door with my hands. And I don't want to smell your urine or stand in it. Please aim to hit and flush afterward for Christ sake! I don't want to smell your mess. If you can't hit it standing up, then maybe you should squat like a woman. People talk about carbon footprint. How about cleaning up after yourself and reducing your germ footprint!!!
The Following is advice from the Mayo Clinic.
Hand washing: Do's and don'ts
Hand washing is an easy way to prevent infection. Understand when to wash your hands, how to properly use hand sanitizer and how to get your children into the habit.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Frequent hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. Hand washing requires only soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer — a cleanser that doesn't require water. Find out when and how to wash your hands properly.
When to wash your hands
As you touch people, surfaces and objects throughout the day, you accumulate germs on your hands. In turn, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Although it's impossible to keep your hands germ-free, washing your hands frequently can help limit the transfer of bacteria, viruses and other microbes.
Always wash your hands before:
* Preparing food
* Eating
* Treating wounds or giving medicine
* Touching a sick or injured person
* Inserting or removing contact lenses
Always wash your hands after:
* Preparing food, especially raw meat or poultry
* Using the toilet
* Changing a diaper
* Touching an animal or animal toys, leashes or waste
* Blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing into your hands
* Treating wounds
* Touching a sick or injured person
* Handling garbage or something that could be contaminated, such as a cleaning cloth or soiled shoes
Of course, it's also important to wash your hands whenever they look dirty.
How to wash your hands - It's generally best to wash your hands with soap and water. Follow these simple steps:
* Wet your hands with running water.
* Apply liquid, bar or powder soap.
* Lather well.
* Rub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Remember to scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails. (I'm not even asking for this)
* Rinse well.
* Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel or air dryer.
* If possible, use your towel to turn off the faucet.
Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product's antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future.
Just think, when you don't wash your hands, you are spreading traces of your urine everywhere. Personally it is an affront to me to know that you are putting this on your food or a door, table, chair, dishes, etc., that others must share. Is that acceptable?
With so many issues in our society dealing with highly resistant bacteria, such as MRSA, you need to realize that you could become a victim of something as easily as you could victimize someone else. You could end up out of work at the very least or in the hospital with a multi-thousand dollar hospital bill if you become infected with something bad from not doing something so simple. You don't have time to wash your hands? You don't have time not to!!!
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