Tell me about your germophobia - what will you do? What do you not care about?

[Italiahaircolor]

I cannot handle anyone (man, woman, child) picking their nose

. Seriously...and I have great fear (it''s incredible, really) of touching a booger or someones hand after they may have picked their nose (oh my God, just talking about it is making me want to throw up.)

I adore my niece and nephew...love them to bits and pieces...but, I am horrified when I catch them with a finger up their nose. I start getting weirded out if/when I see it. I won''t hold their hand, any bit of anything on their clothing I assume fearfully is booger. It''s an intense fear.

 

[Selkie]

LOL, I know the foot-flushing is a battle I''m probably not going to win, because it''s one of those self-perpetuating things. You know someone else has flushed with their foot, so you do too because you don''t want to touch it. But if the handle is high enough that you have to do acrobatics and hang on to the walls to flush with your shoe, it''s probably not meant for that. Hmm, maybe they should add little disposable glove dispensers to the stalls too!

Anyway, now I sound like someone from www.passiveaggressivenotes.com. This entry seems apropos to this thread

 

[HollyS]

Date: 4/6/2009 7:05:11 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
I cannot handle anyone (man, woman, child) picking their nose

. Seriously...and I have great fear (it''s incredible, really) of touching a booger or someones hand after they may have picked their nose (oh my God, just talking about it is making me want to throw up.)

I adore my niece and nephew...love them to bits and pieces...but, I am horrified when I catch them with a finger up their nose. I start getting weirded out if/when I see it. I won''t hold their hand, any bit of anything on their clothing I assume fearfully is booger. It''s an intense fear.

LOL What will you do with your own kids?

 

[Kim N]

I''m very much a germophobe.

- I always wash my hands after coming home from being anywhere outside.
- Shaking hands. I wash my hands as soon as I can afterward.
- I wash my hands after touching money.
- Public restrooms. I always use seat covers (but only one!), use toilet paper to lock the stall door, use my foot to flush, and use a paper towel to open the restroom door on my way out.
- Door handles in general. I try to avoid touching them, use my foot when I can just push the door open, otherwise I try to use a paper towel or I wash my hands afterwards.
- I wash new clothes before wearing them unless they''re dry-clean only.
- Subways/airplanes/escalators. I''m generally disgusted by these. I wash my clothes and hands after coming home, and I never touch the handrails in subways and escalators. Ick.
- Hotel rooms. I never touch the floor with my bare feet, never lie on top of the bed covers, and try to avoid touching the phone and light switches.
- Restaurants. I try to avoid touching ketchup and salt and pepper shakers or anything on the table.
- I hate touching the pens at the cash register when I have to sign the receipt, so I always bring my own pen.
- Offices. Whenever I start work at a new office, I sanitize everything in my work area. Ew. There must be so many germs on computer mice, keyboards, phones, desk areas. And whenever anyone else uses my computer, I sanitize it afterward.
- Raw meat. When I do handle it, I sanitize the cutting board, sink, and counters afterward with bleach.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 4/6/2009 6:51:06 PM
Author: Linda W


OMG Layla, just reading this made me gag

I hate when men do this, walking down the street. They spit. AAAAAAAACK!!!

Yeah. I know. ICK. My grandfather used to always do it. Right out the car window. I developed an aversion by the time I was 1 I think. Horking. It even SOUNDS nasty.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Date: 4/6/2009 7:11:00 PM
Author: HollyS

Date: 4/6/2009 7:05:11 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
I cannot handle anyone (man, woman, child) picking their nose

. Seriously...and I have great fear (it''s incredible, really) of touching a booger or someones hand after they may have picked their nose (oh my God, just talking about it is making me want to throw up.)

I adore my niece and nephew...love them to bits and pieces...but, I am horrified when I catch them with a finger up their nose. I start getting weirded out if/when I see it. I won''t hold their hand, any bit of anything on their clothing I assume fearfully is booger. It''s an intense fear.

LOL What will you do with your own kids?

I will cross that bridge when I come to it...people say it''s different when it''s your own...

But, I will be sure to nip the behavior off at the tip if I see it. Besides being disgusted beyond messure...it''s bad manners.

 

[niccia]

I used to have OCD pretty badly, but I have learned that I can''t live in a bubble, and I really do think that exposing oneself to some amount of germs is healthy. I don''t believe in using a lot of sanitizers etc apart from soap and hot water. Having said that, the following things really ick me out:
Phones, esp public ones. They will never touch my ear.
Public bathrooms...I can never believe how disgusting some people are.
Nightclub glasses and anything out of the hoses (pop/liquor)...I bartended for 2 years and know never to order anything off the gun. My gf and I used to scrub down our bar for hours, but no one else did, and no matter how much you clean, stuff grows in those sugary hoses.
Dirty pennies (not sure why)...I feel compelled to pick them up anyway because my mum once told me that if I turned away a penny, God would think I didn''t need the money.

Hotel bedding
Airplane and bus headrests

 

[Bia]

Date: 4/6/2009 7:41:13 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor

Date: 4/6/2009 7:11:00 PM

Author: HollyS

Date: 4/6/2009 7:05:11 PM

Author: Italiahaircolor

I cannot handle anyone (man, woman, child) picking their nose

. Seriously...and I have great fear (it's incredible, really) of touching a booger or someones hand after they may have picked their nose (oh my God, just talking about it is making me want to throw up.)

I adore my niece and nephew...love them to bits and pieces...but, I am horrified when I catch them with a finger up their nose. I start getting weirded out if/when I see it. I won't hold their hand, any bit of anything on their clothing I assume fearfully is booger. It's an intense fear.

LOL What will you do with your own kids?

I will cross that bridge when I come to it...people say it's different when it's your own...

But, I will be sure to nip the behavior off at the tip if I see it. Besides being disgusted beyond messure...it's bad manners.

It really is bad manners, your children will be taught well. However, kids are one thing...

I am always amazed at how many people I catch out there picking their nose and then

their fingers! AND you know, it is almost always a middle aged man oblivious to the world around him. blech...

 

[LaraOnline]

Other people''s / children''s vomit and phegm I don''t like on me or my children. Also, not poo, and probably, in most cases, wee.
Otherwise, I take a ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger'' mentality.

Not the type to wipe down the shopping trolley before sitting my child in, although I do encourage them to wash their hands after visiting a public restroom!

Perhaps it would be good to have sanitiser gel to wipe down the seat so that when they balance atop, using their little hands on the seat, I don''t have to worry about that...

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/6/2009 9:02:15 PM
Author: Bia
[ . . . ]
I am always amazed at how many people I catch out there picking their nose and then

their fingers! AND you know, it is almost always a middle aged man oblivious to the world around him. blech...

OH! (shudders) GROSS!!!!

Funny story about this: My mom and I created a really fun and elaborate scavenger hunt in Old Orchard Mall (and outdoor mall) for part of my sweet sixteen party. We split my friends up in four groups, gave each group a Polaroid camera and a sheet of tasks they needed to complete and catch on film, and set everyone loose. One of the tasks was along the lines of "Photograph a stranger exhibiting socially inappropriate behavior in a public space" and OH MAN did we get some hilariously disgusting Polaroids back on that one! There were noses being picked for the taking that day!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 4/6/2009 7:41:13 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor

Date: 4/6/2009 7:11:00 PM
Author: HollyS

Date: 4/6/2009 7:05:11 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
I cannot handle anyone (man, woman, child) picking their nose

. Seriously...and I have great fear (it''s incredible, really) of touching a booger or someones hand after they may have picked their nose (oh my God, just talking about it is making me want to throw up.)

I adore my niece and nephew...love them to bits and pieces...but, I am horrified when I catch them with a finger up their nose. I start getting weirded out if/when I see it. I won''t hold their hand, any bit of anything on their clothing I assume fearfully is booger. It''s an intense fear.

LOL What will you do with your own kids?

I will cross that bridge when I come to it...people say it''s different when it''s your own...

But, I will be sure to nip the behavior off at the tip if I see it. Besides being disgusted beyond messure...it''s bad manners.

LOL! You will love this then Italia...

Last week my daughter had what looked like a big booger in her nose, but unfortunately she won''t let me get anywhere near it unless my hands are wet (she likes the water). I tried to get it out but it was too far up there. I washed her up, dressed her and headed out for her doc''s appointment.

In the car, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I looked down on my genes and saw a giant white juicy fat MAGGOT on my jeans. But you guessed it, it was her BOOGER. Don''t ask me how it got it my jeans - it must have been on my hands and I was in such a hurry I just dried my hands on my jeans. This booger was bigger and stickier than anything I''ve ever pulled out of my own nose as a kid (or as an adult for that matter).

Thank goodness, unlike some of you gals, I''m not a boogerphobe!

 

[HollyS]

TGal, do you think everybody stopped posting ''cause you thoroughly grossed them out?

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 4/6/2009 11:05:06 PM
Author: HollyS
TGal, do you think everybody stopped posting ''cause you thoroughly grossed them out?

I know I did....she topped anything I came up with. Even beat out the horking....

LS

 

[TravelingGal]

 

[Linda W]

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YUK T-Gal!!! That is just gross. A booger on your jeans. ICK ICK ICK.

I refuse to read this thread anymore. It is making me gag.

 

[Haven]

I can handle boogers, things that come out of noses are okay, it''s other body parts that freak the heck out of me!

Oh, gross. I just grossed myself out.

 

[TravelingGal]

What''s worse is that I was already driving and didn''t have a tissue onhand. Once I picked it up, I didn''t want to stick it anywhere else, nor did I want to drive with it on my finger. So I did the mad hand flappy finger flick out the window.

 

[HollyS]

Date: 4/6/2009 11:35:59 PM
Author: TravelingGal
What''s worse is that I was already driving and didn''t have a tissue onhand. Once I picked it up, I didn''t want to stick it anywhere else, nor did I want to drive with it on my finger. So I did the mad hand flappy finger flick out the window.

I think I speak for everyone when I say "Eewwwwwwww!"

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/6/2009 11:35:59 PM
Author: TravelingGal
What's worse is that I was already driving and didn't have a tissue onhand. Once I picked it up, I didn't want to stick it anywhere else, nor did I want to drive with it on my finger. So I did the mad hand flappy finger flick out the window.

HAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! I love that.

I have a gross booger story, so I'm going to share it: I went to sleepover camp for eight summers when I was younger. The last summer I went I was going into my sophomore year of high school, so I was 14. This new girl came to camp that summer (which was extremely unusual,) and my little group of friends did not like her. She was stuck up, and rude, and she obviously didn't realize that she was not cool because she tirelessly tried to date the cutest boy in our little group.

She ended up living in my cabin, and at night my girlfriends and I would sometimes "bake" our boogers (you KNOW--roll them between our fingertips until they firmed up a bit, don't act like you've never done it) and fling them from our top bunks toward the new girl's end of the cabin. After she was sleeping, of course.

It was gross. I admit it. I feel badly about it now, but I don't think any baked boogers ever really made it all the way to her side of the cabin, anyway (there were probably six other bunks between hers and ours, so someone else may have gotten pelted.)

So, that's my gross booger story, and I'm not ashamed to share it. I know I should be. When you spend two months living in a tent or cabin in the middle of nowhere every summer, you do gross things. Consider yourselves spared from some really nasty stories.

 

[Anastasia]

Thanks for the laughs TGal. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying! This is one of the funniest threads in a while.

I am completely NOT a germophobe. I am from the aforementioned "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger camp". I do however was my hands regularly and try to do so after being in public places. I am most definitely a foot flusher. And hotel bedspreads skeeve me to no end.

 

[Haven]

Oh gawd, now I scared everyone away!

I was disgusting, I know! Truth is, I was really just a b*tch and we had limited resources out there in the woods.

 

[Anastasia]

Haven - I am a mother of three - it would take more than your "baked booger" to scare me away!

It just took me a few minutes to regroup and wipe away the tears of laughter before I could post!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 4/7/2009 12:04:39 AM
Author: Anastasia
Thanks for the laughs TGal. I''m laughing so hard I''m crying! This is one of the funniest threads in a while.

I am completely NOT a germophobe. I am from the aforementioned ''what doesn''t kill us makes us stronger camp''. I do however was my hands regularly and try to do so after being in public places. I am most definitely a foot flusher. And hotel bedspreads skeeve me to no end.

Germophobes are the way they are because they believe that whatever doesn''t kill them will make them STRANGER.

Haven, very funny story. But it didn''t gross me out. The only way baked boogers would gross me out is if they were served at your camp for dinner.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I am a germophobe at work. I wash my hands before and after touching anyone (mostly with the waterless stuff).

However, outside of work....I really don''t go beyond the basic stuff.

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/7/2009 12:12:01 AM
Author: TravelingGal
Haven, very funny story. But it didn''t gross me out. The only way baked boogers would gross me out is if they were served at your camp for dinner.

 

[pennquaker09]

I carry wipes and sanitizer with me everywhere. When people leave my house, I Lysol the door and anything remotely capable of holding germs and bacteria.


I wasn''t this way until I met Nate. He would talk to me about the various illnesses he encountered. So gross.

 

[strmrdr]

cooked food being left out.
It goes right in the fridge or freezer as soon as possible.
Proper temp for cooking meat. (everything gets checked with a thermometer)
open public bathroom doors with something and turn off the water without using my hands.
I love the auto facets and totally hate facets that turn to turn them on/off

 

[Deelight]

I used to be really icked out by most things until I went on my contiki trip - surfice it to say after seeing (and refusing) to use some of the facilities there I no longer get as grossed out by public toilets

. This is from the girl who when she went out to uni all day would hold it in till she got home no matter how busting I was. toliet doors still ick me out if I have to touch them it is with my pinkie and then I don''t use that pinky till I wash it again.

Boogers make me want to vomit, heralds back to when I was a kid and the grotty girl down the street picked a massive flemgy snot (this is making me want to chunder typing this) stuck it in her mouth turned to us all showed us and then ate

- FERAL.


When I cook especially for other people I wash my hands and utensils obsessively, the thought of getting someone else sick through bad practice icks me out.

 

[mayachel]

okay, so i''m reading along having a good laugh...when I get to TG''s post about the maggot sized booger...eeewwww! I started out thinking, "meh, not much bothers me, I just need to wash my hands after". But as I read through other people''s lists a lot of things resonated.

-hotel bed spreads!!
-The subway/station floor. Nothing must touch it but the soles of my shoes. This includes umbrellas, bags (plastic is the exception) coats etc...

I nearly had a heart attack when a dear friend visited the city for the first time and
SAT DOWN! on the GROUND at the 42nd st station. She kept saying, ''what I sit on the earth all the time'' and I was blabbering on about germs, and at least with the earth, sometimes it rains.

-Another city induced trait, no shoes in the house! All shoes must come off just inside the front door. The city is filthy! Who knows what is on the bottom of your shoes.

-I don''t mind public restrooms, or urine on the seat (technically it''s sterile fluid) I''ll either wipe it up or, no I''m not going to touch it anyway. (It''s a good thigh workout!) But I am guilty of flushing with my foot. Unless of course, nice restruaunt, normal toilet etc...

 

[LaraOnline]

After reading this thread, I''ve decided I hate boogers too. Especially fleshy jouicy ones!

Oh, and food left out overnight is never good, thanks strm!