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Are you a germaphobe?

Dancing Fire

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Apr 3, 2004
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would you shake my hand if I have a cold?
 
Dancing Fire said:
would you shake my hand if I have a cold?
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No, and I'd scold you for offering it.

I'm not a Howard Hughes germaphobe but IMO I'm smart about taking reasonable precautions.
I don't carry around hand-sanitizer or even use it when I'm out and about and see a disperser.
I keep my hands away from my face.
That's an important step of reducing transmission of yuckies into your body.

I always wash my hands when coming home and entering my house.
I recently read we should dry hands thoroughly because wet hands (compared to dry hands) are germ magnets.

To avoid contact with athlete's foot fungus I always wear flip flops when showering at the gym.
Actually I'm never barefoot, even in our bathroom, since my SO has AF.
I even sleep with sox on.
This has paid off, 15 years and my feet are still AF-free. :dance:

I don't touch anything in a public rest room.
If there's no paper towels to open the door when exiting I'll get some TP or wait for someone else to open the door so I can exit sans hands.

Fruits and veges that rest on the ground like melons and cucumbers get washed with dish soap.
The plastic bags they came in go directly into the recycling bin.
Farmworkers have been known to relieve themselves in the fields.
This tip from my SO's family who have worked in the fields when times were tough.

I don't bother 'sanitizing' shopping cart handles.
However I do avoid putting anything in the top section where babies sit.
A leaky diaper may have preceded my food there. :knockout:

If you feel these things make me a germaphobe that's fine. :bigsmile:
I think they are reasonable and worth the small effort.
 
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I wouldn't shake your hand but I don't consider myself a germaphobe. There are however a few things that skeeve me out, gas station pumps, key pads on ATM machines or payment keypads in stores and door handles and knobs. I keep spray hand sanitizer in my car and use it right after pumping gas, for handles I will try to use a paper towel, because some people are gross and don't wash their hands. For keypads I try to use my knuckles to type.
 
Dancing Fire said:
would you shake my hand if I have a cold?
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No I wouldn't shake your hand and I would be annoyed with you for even offering your hand if you had a cold virus.

I am not a germaphobe but I do wash my hands often and I won't knowingly expose myself to germs without taking the proper precautions i.e. not shaking your hands when you are sick.

Also always wash your hands for at least 20 seconds (sing happy birthday twice in your head if you cannot judge 20 seconds) and lather soap and water b/w fingers and nails and then (as Kenny wrote) dry your hands thoroughly. It's amazing how many people do not dry their hands thoroughly.

And I do not use the hand dryers in restrooms as those expose you to more germs so always dry off with paper towels or toilet paper if necessary and always open the door to leave with a paper towel or tp and same with shutting off the sink.

And never touch your face/eyes/mouth/nose if you are out and about before getting to wash your hands thoroughly as that is a route for germs to get in and make you sick. If more people washed their hands correctly and more often they would be healthier for it.

Hand washing is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of infections.
 
I would shake your hand then run to the nearest restroom to wash up!
No, I am not a germaphobe. For my job, I travel around to multiple retail locations every day.
I use public restrooms probably 3x day. I wash my hands alot but you can't avoid touching the tiny latches inside stall doors. Sometimes, there are old-style crank paper towel dispensers.
I take modest precautions and I rarely get sick.
 
I’m not a germaphobe but I do take basic precautions including not shaking the hand of someone who is sick.
 
I would kindly withdraw the opportunity to shake your hand. I frequently wash and when I do shake the hand of someone I'll head to the nearest restroom or use a sanitary wipe to clean my hands. Can't stand gas pumps and public restrooms. Love the restrooms at the airport where you can get through the entire process without touching a thing.
 
I KNOW my immune system is compromised by my stress level so humans, all you humans, as tempting as it is to squeeze the bean, please refrain from doing so, or I will climb back into the litter robot spaceship (see profile pic) and transport myself back to the mother planet. :loopy:
 
I am a germaphobe when it comes to food, can't stay out longer than an hour, if it's slightly wilted out it goes.

I would shake your hand and then discreetly use hand sanitizer.
 
PintoBean said:
I KNOW my immune system is compromised by my stress level so humans, all you humans, as tempting as it is to squeeze the bean, please refrain from doing so, or I will climb back into the litter robot spaceship (see profile pic) and transport myself back to the mother planet. :loopy:
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Ummm sorry but you're getting a big missy hug when I see you. No escaping that but my hugs have healing powers. :kiss:
Start that Vitamin C. :cool2:
 
I’d probably qualify :lol:
 
Unless you just wiped your nose with Kleenex, hand or sleeve
Or just sneezed/coughed into your hand(s)
Yes I would shake your hand.
If I have a cold- I politely refuse their outstretched hand and explain.
I wash my hands frequently and keep hand sanitizer in my truck for when soap/water is unavailable, but always wash then when available. Gas pumps, yeah......
On the other hand- I do not buy antibacterial soap.
I see plenty of people/kids using hand sanitizer and immediately eating finger food. I cannot do this.
I also think the folk behind the meat counter use gloves for their own hand cleanliness, not cross contamination. They use the same gloves to pick up the meat- type on the scale- and wrap the package to hand to me. They think I am insane to have a baggie covering my hand to encase the package as they hand it to me.
I really have to try and not think about all the raw meat contamination that must be all over the shopping carts and checkout lane conveyor belt. It can get dehabiltating.
 
missy said:
Ummm sorry but you're getting a big missy hug when I see you. No escaping that but my hugs have healing powers. :kiss:
Start that Vitamin C. :cool2:
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I'll be the bean in the bubble! :lol-2::lol:
 
Maybe.

It goes far beyond shaking your hand when you have a cold. I am completely uncomfortable with the fact that you are out in public while sick. I am squirming inside, wondering why you aren't home in bed. I can see the viruses invading your body and then crossing over to mine. It's a violation. Mucous everywhere. There is an illness etiquette..and you aren't following it.

Then my mind goes to the thought process of "this is how a serious plague will be spread."

By the way, all of this thinking is involuntary.

I was shopping at Costco the other day, when I witnessed a woman make this biggest, nastiest sneeze right into the meat case. My brain scrambled. The only way I can describe what happened to all of my thoughts is to give you this visual. Take a little jar of BB's and drop them on the ground...that was all of my thoughts. I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do next. One by one, I collected my thoughts. I wondered if people had sneezed their nasty fluids into the precious meat case before. I rationalized that surely they had. I wondered how impervious the plastic wrap really was. I contemplated becoming vegan. My heart pounded with hatred for that disgusting human being. My shopping trip was over... I had to leave.

By the way, I believe that everyone should be like me...aware. I am told that I am crazy.

I have restaurants on "the list." If their bathrooms are dirty, no way will I eat there. The saying is "if the bathroom is dirty, the kitchen is dirtier." If their window ledges are dirty, I won't eat there because they don't pride cleanliness. They don't make their employees clean. If this is what they are willing to show the customers, their best face, what in the world is going on in the kitchen? So yeah...there is "a list." It drives my husband crazy.

Basic hand washing and home cleanliness aren't on my radar. They are normal behavior that should be performed by everyone.


And I am nothing compared to my poor stepdad who actually had OCD. He couldn't enter the house unless his shoes were cleaned with rubbing alcohol. All surfaces in the house were cleaned with rubbing alcohol. He worried about everything all of the time. :(. He was a prisoner of his germ worries. Bless his soul.
 
No, I'm not a germophobe. I consider I take normal precautions, I wash my hands properly after using the loo, and after stroking my dog and before I prepare food.

I'm rarely, if ever ill, so I don't obsess about germs lurking everywhere.

If I did shake your hand and you were all snotty, I would wash my hands immediately after.
 
Like many others on this thread, I take reasonable precautions too. The biggest change has been automatic hand washing whenever I get home. I try to also avoid touching my face when I'm out in public.

The handwashing thing has made the biggest difference, I don't get sick as often as before. I make my kids do it too, and after eating. Bonus side effect of keeping dirty finger smudges off walls and furniture! lol

BTW, everyone at works makes fun of me, but I do feel I've had success with ColdFX. Even if it's a placebo effect...

Anne
 
No, I wouldn't shake your hand!
I'd give you a big hug! :mrgreen2:

Its a cold. Geez, if people with colds quarantined themselves, we'd have no traffic jams, lineups or aisles blocked by sauntering people taking up with entire width! What would we complain about?!?! :confused2:

Of course, after hugging you, I'd carry out my normal behaviour around food; everything must be cleaned, washed, scrubbed to ensure no nasty little germs sneak into my meals.

Regarding other stuff; public restrooms, people not sneezing into their elbows away from others, and other stuff that I won't write because I don't want to think about it - yuck! Totally disgusting. :nono:
 
With adults, I don't think so. I have more of a germ phobia when I interact with kids though. Not that I've really made a connection that kid germs have made me sick. Just an unusual fear!
 
HI:

I've been working in big communities (hospitals) for over 30 years and have never gotten sick from patients or fomites (sorry, I had to use that word!). I sanitize surfaces at work and wash my hands between EVERY patient every time. Where possible, I refrain from touching obvious surfaces like handrails where germs are rife. I pull my shirt over my hand to open door knobs and hold my breath when people sneeze around me--I've been known to cover my face! I cannot recall the last time I had a cold or flu.

I believe in hand washing hand washing and hand washing. And staying at home when you are sick. Sanitizing phones, mice, and keyboards is just a given.

cheers--Sharon
 
House Cat said:
I have restaurants on "the list." If their bathrooms are dirty, no way will I eat there. The saying is "if the bathroom is dirty, the kitchen is dirtier." If their window ledges are dirty, I won't eat there because they don't pride cleanliness. They don't make their employees clean. If this is what they are willing to show the customers, their best face, what in the world is going on in the kitchen? So yeah...there is "a list." It drives my husband crazy.
Click to expand...
In other words ...don't eat at any Chinese restaurants...:mrgreen2:
 
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Here is a pic of an olden day outdoor restaurant in HK. When wife and I was there in 1983 I sat down and ate but she just stand there and watch me eat b/c it was so filthy dirty she can't take it. The foods tasted so good :lickout: even with rats running around your feet while you eat. Notice the BBQ pork/duck hanging in open air with flies ?. They don't even wash their dishes they just rinse it in a bucket of dirty water and serve the next customer.

f90e03f9af363aaab5aad8d40aa5186e.jpg
 
If your immune system is accustomed to that and you are comfy with it knock yourself out.

Personally I could not travel where the food and customs around it are vastly different from what I'm used do.
Don't want to eat any parts of animals but muscle.
Even then only the animals I'm used to consuming.
Don't wanna eat organs, tendons, eyeballs, brains, insects, drink blood, etc. etc. etc.

If that makes me whatever-ist, so be it.

My food preferences are not rational, just an overwhelming powerful force.

Dancing Fire said:
Here is a pic of an olden day outdoor restaurant in HK. When wife and I was there in 1983 I sat down and ate but she just stand there and watch me eat b/c it was so filthy dirty she can't take it. The foods tasted so good :lickout: even with rats running around your feet while you eat. Notice the BBQ pork/duck hanging in open air with flies ?. They don't even wash their dishes they just rinse it in a bucket of dirty water and serve the next customer.

f90e03f9af363aaab5aad8d40aa5186e.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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Dancing Fire said:
Here is a pic of an olden day outdoor restaurant in HK. When wife and I was there in 1983 I sat down and ate but she just stand there and watch me eat b/c it was so filthy dirty she can't take it. The foods tasted so good :lickout: even with rats running around your feet while you eat. Notice the BBQ pork/duck hanging in open air with flies ?. They don't even wash their dishes they just rinse it in a bucket of dirty water and serve the next customer.

f90e03f9af363aaab5aad8d40aa5186e.jpg
Click to expand...
:eek-2:
 
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I am not a germophobe but I do not attend public swimming pools. As Ecclesiastes once said, "too much knowledge begets sorrow".
 
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