I know. It's totally not rational. But then, most phobias aren't.

[ 08 March 2006: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Originally posted by skdadl:
Well - wipe the seat, eh?

First, urine is sterile, and second, your vulva is not touching the seat, yes?

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Seriously, I know, it's totally ridiculous. It's a hangover from a time in my early 20's when I was very paranoid and hypochondriac about everything for about a year or two. (I'm convinced now that it was just that "wrestling with my mortality" stage, even though at the time it was pathologized by my doctor as "depression". I've never had it, at least not to a debilitating degree, since.) I kept seeing every innocuous thing as the thing that was gonna kill me. I know, sounds so silly now, but it would keep me up every single night then. Going to the hairdresser's and having them use a comb on my scalp? "What if it nicks me, and it wasn't properly sterilized, and I get AIDS?" A dentist appointment was enough to send me into fits for a week. I had to see all the instruments coming out of the sterilizer. Needles at the doctor's office? "What if they take short cuts that I don't know about? What if they made a mistake and that wasn't sterile?"

I'm not like that anymore, at least not to the degree where it keeps me up at night and every twinge feels like the beginning symptoms of some horrible terminal illness. But there are still little hangovers from it. Like the dental instruments (just had a series of dental appointments and found myself very mildly wondering about the instruments, enough to ask about it). Like not wanting to pierce or tattoo anything.

And, well, like toilet seats. I know it's irrational.

[ 08 March 2006: Message edited by: Michelle ]

But, gee: pee has just never inspired any of them.

I guess it's because, when I was little, I was often enough in the country and using the wooden one- or two-holers back down the garden. We have since learned, of course, that wood is very good at curing itself of pathogens.

Gee: you guys are making me self-conscious about my bathroom. I can't remember when I last scrubbed it to these exacting standards.

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... it is clear that a visit to the toilet or washroom can have its problems too. The areas of potential contamination or the ‘hot zones’ need special attention. Even when a toilet looks clean, it is not really so from the point of view of the Microbiologist! There are the invisible denizens of the sewer waiting to move up as the hidden invaders. It is entirely in our HANDS to ensure we overcome them. The aspects of HAND HYGIENE need to be addressed separately.

Dr.Thara Francis M.D.
Consultant Microbiologist,
(Formerly with Apollo Hospitals & Malar Hospital)
Chennai
WASHROOM HYGIENE: THE HIDDEN INVADERS!

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Originally posted by skdadl:
Gee: you guys are making me self-conscious about my bathroom. I can't remember when I last scrubbed it to these exacting standards.

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I don't either! For some reason the phobia completely goes away when I'm in my own bathroom or the bathroom of someone I know, even if it's not pristine.

As for blood spatters all over public washrooms - I haven't seen that very often either, but I sure did see it once - it was in a washroom at George Brown College, where I was taking a computer course at night. I went to the washroom, and I swear, it wasn't just me being a freak. Every single stall was absolutely horrendous. The one I chose had blood smeared on the seat and down the side of the toilet. I didn't notice it until my underwear swiped it.

[ 08 March 2006: Message edited by: skdadl ]

Back to sanitation and the fears that breed disease:

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Originally posted by writer:
A study carried out by the University of Westminster, UK, found that people who use warm air dryers rather than towels have, on average, 255% more general bacteria on their finger tips.

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I've always kind of wondered about that. You'd think it would just suck up all the germs floating around the bathroom and blow it back onto your hands. I haven't wondered enough to be paranoid about it, though.

The fact is if you are visiting such a toilet to deliver the full menu, you may feel that you've been given the choice of pooping on the back of the seat or peeing on the floor.

In elementary and high school, my mom insisted I ALWAYS carefully tear t.p. off the roll and cover the toilet seat, if I must sit down.
And I did. In high school a girlfriend caught me elaborately covering the toilet seat and said Oh Gawd, do you do that too? So felt somewhat validated. Then I taught me own daughter to do the same. She is much worse than I was about other people's juices, and was capable of holding her pee in all day til she got home, rather than bother with the ritual. She is now in a feng shui designed school, so feels somewhat okay about using the toilets. Go figure. Is that matter over mind?

I bet some of your mammas told you the same. It is totally irrational really, but I still do it when I am in Toronto and need to use the subway/restaurant loo.

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Bacteria Love A Good Blow

A study carried out by the University of Westminster, UK, found that people who use warm air dryers rather than towels have, on average, 255% more general bacteria on their finger tips.

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Brought to you by your friendly forestry industry.

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Originally posted by skdadl:
And isn't urine sterile?

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Originally posted by skdadl:
And isn't urine sterile?

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1) You cannot always see blood by-products.
2) Vinegar works better than alcohol to kill bacterium found in the toilet area. Carry a small bottle with tissues in your bag, wipe the seat on top and around the edges, throw it into the bowl, place some vinegar on your hands and rub, then do your business.
3) Urine is toxic to most aerobic bacterium, it contains ammonium, a cleanser.
4) Don’t flush other peoples waste. Use another stall. The vortex from the water spreads the nasty (sometimes invisible) stuff sometimes as much 2 metres.
5) Flush you own dirty deeds after you have zipped up. Stand as far away from the bowl as possible. If there is a top cap seat cover, place it down prior to flushing, even at home.
6) Wash your hands thoroughly, fully lather your soap, for at least 30 seconds and don’t forget to dig under your finger nails, and between your fingers. This is a good practice for food preparation and prior to eating as well.
7) The blow hand dryer supplies the bacterium just what they need to reproduce, warmth, so if you don’t have any of these little beasties on your hands, then they cannot replicate.
8) Use a paper towel or tissue as a glove to open the door. All of the best practices cannot prevent you from picking up something from someone who didn’t wash.

You can also protect yourself from common bacterium by playing in the dirt once or twice a week. The bacterium found in soil is by and large inert, symbiotic and keeps your immune system active. So, as Mark Cullin says, “keep your (hands &) knees dirty.” If you pick up a bag of top soil from the store and keep it damp throughout the winter, play with it, get it into your fingernails, you will see a huge difference in the amount and severity of illness you contract. BTW, the kits love it! Exercised that lymphatic system of yours!

With regard to flushing, regardless of whether it's your by-products or someone else's, the rule is to always put the lid down first. It might not be 100% reliable in terms of preventing the spead of bacteria by spray mist but it's certainly supposed to limit it.