Maybe you saw the recent column by Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. in the edition of Jan. 4. If you did, it's worth repeating; if you didn't, then maybe I can summarize for you.
Jamieson had written an earlier column about being in a local restaurant when one of the cooks came into the men's room, took care of business and walked out without washing his hands.
That column apparently brought a wave of emails recounting similar horror stories about Boeing managers, doctors, food workers, fathers with children and ministers, all of whom had been seen leaving the restroom without washing their hands.
It's well-documented and not terribly complicated to understand that humans pass various bacteria and viruses with their hands. We do everything-and I do mean everything-with our hands. At the peril of being a bit indelicate, we sneeze, cough, pick, pet, wipe and run our hands across surfaces infested with more bacteria than a passel of Petri dishes at the Center for Disease Control (CDC). We're like walking epidemics, and if we don't wash our hands we consequently begin to transfer those microbes to everything we touch.
A hundred years ago it probably didn't matter as much. Most of us lived in the country, not only picking up germs from ourselves but from all the farm animals. Stuck on the farm with little or no contact with other humans except on Saturday night-and that was after we took our weekly bath-we likely had reduced the risk of transference to others.
Today, with 6 billion people on the planet (soon to be 9 billion), and with entirely new species of germs surfacing daily, we are literally setting the table for some serious epidemics unless we learn to wash our hands frequently-a task, as Jamieson brings out, that's one of the simplest and quickest things we can do to help prevent illness.
My wife and I, who have become somewhat Howard Hughes-obsessive about the issue of germs, were still victims of gastroenteritis, a virus (there are several) that will turn your digestive system into a non-functioning water factory for anywhere from a couple of days to a week or more. The time between Christmas and New Years was lost to us, thanks to what we now are certain was a food handler who failed to wash properly.
We think we know where it happened, based on the CDC pointing out that once you are infected this particular virus takes 1 to 2 days to present itself. Not being able absolutely to prove our case, I'll not mention the establishment in this column-though I can tell you that, in addition to canceling several holiday events, we spent a less-than-pleasant week at home.
A number of the folks writing in to Jamieson had suggestions to encourage people to wash their hands, including urging restaurants, pubs and other public facilities to make sure there is an ample supply of soap and towels in the restrooms; "shame Posses" that "out" people who don't wash when finishing their business; and the use of hand sanitizers (carried in your pocket or purse) to use after shaking hands, touching merchandise, etc.
But my favorite was from Phil in Wenatchee, who suggested that instead of putting sinks in the restroom, they be put outside in public view where everyone can see who is washing and who isn't as they leave the facilities.
I'd go a step further and put in a spinning red light that would activate each time someone leaves the restroom, alerting all in the area to the fact they are exiting; now we can all turn and watch the individual to see if he washes-and if not, we can boo and hiss.
There's nothing like a little public embarrassment to get the attention of those who seem to think the laws, courtesy and even common sense do not apply to them.
Mike Davis is a freelance writer and regular contributor to the News living in Magnolia. He can be reached at mageditor@nwlink.com.
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