Germs, Germs, Everywhere
By AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16679)
Boston, Massachusetts
September 24, 2015 6:42am CST
I like to think of myself as a fairly antiseptic person. I may live with a lot of clutter, but I don't like germ-laden things. I am one of those cooks who has very little skin on her hands from washing them constantly. And I don't like to think about the fact that we really cannot avoid germs.
So, I was not happy to read that your keyboard, your phone, your sink faucets and your average shopping cart (trolley) all have more germs than a public toilet.
I have thought about how the shopping cart handle has germs on it from other people pushing it around, but I never really explored the many germs left in carts by diaper-wearing babies, or worse - leaky diapered babies.
Even the conveyor belt at the supermarket has all sorts of leakage from raw meat, etc. on it. You need to wash your hands every time you open a jar of pickles or a can of soup. If it was on the conveyor belt, it's potentially loaded with germs.
But most of us don't think about this and cannot spend our lives worrying about it. There's only so many times you can use hand sanitizer in one day. We are bombarded with germs every day and most healthy people are not affected. Still, the thought of leaky diapers where I just set my loaf of bread makes me a bit ill.
Are you a germophobe? Do you sanitize and disinfect surfaces regularly or are you living dangerously? Which is worse - the germs or the fear of germs?
13 people like this
13 responses
@GardenGerty (160879)
• United States
24 Sep 15
Fear is worse than the reality. I wipe the tops of my cans before opening them. You do not even mention the things that crawl on cans and jars in warehouses or receiving departments. I use a lot of vinegar, and have a huge container of sanitizer, and I will use a bleach spray or peroxide spray on things, but not so much as others.
2 people like this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
24 Sep 15
It is the hands that pass on the germs as they touch everything every moment of the day.
2 people like this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
24 Sep 15
@Rollo1 It is therefore so necessary to wash hands after getting inside the kitchen. I insist that my maid does that as touching the door before getting in can load her hands with germs.
@chaitra001 (3278)
• Bangalore, India
25 Sep 15
Fear is worse than germs. We need to sanitize our hands but if we tend to get the habit of sanitizing for the tiny things then our body might loose the tendency to resist against germs and the effect of germs might be severe.
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
24 Sep 15
I don't tend to be quite that germaphobic. I can be quite mucky and slovenly at times. Not quite typhoid Mary but ... I remember in Douglas Adams's restaurant At the End Of the Universe, Earth sends all its telephone sanitation engineers off into space as unwanted people and then a plague started by a dirty phone earpiece wipes out whole countries.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Sep 15
People lower their resistance by keeping things too antiseptic. It's probably going to happen in office staffed by women with gallon jugs of hand sanitizer. One day they will come across a new germ and be susceptible to it. An epidemic will ensue.
@LadyDuck (471969)
• Switzerland
24 Sep 15
I am a germophobe. When I come back from the supermarket, I remove every plastic film and put a new one on the food before placing in my refrigerator. I wash the cans before opening them, I believe that germs can come inside from the edge when you cut it. I wash my hands all the time, I cannot stand the idea that I cannot get rid of all germs. Anyway I think that my cleaning mania works, because I have never got a cold or a flu since I married 40 years ago.
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
24 Sep 15
I do get a bit weird about germs sometimes, but some germs in our daily lives can actually help us build up our immune systems so that we can fight off the really bad ones. I've got that image of the leaky diaper and the loaf of bread etched in my mind now, though.
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Sep 15
I think that most of the time, you aren't in great danger from a supermarket trolley, but you could catch a cold or flu. But what if someone with something worse just happened to be the last person to use it? Anything is possible.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471969)
• Switzerland
24 Sep 15
@Sheilamarie78 I hate to touch the handle of supermarket karts, from now on I will hate this even more. 
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
25 Sep 15
well, as much as I agree germs are gross, they are a natural part of life, and thus need to be around, they help strenghen our immune system and all that. I am not a germophobe, nor do I go around rubbing like raw meat on stuff. I tend to use gloves, or utensils to cut meat and things to keep my hands as clean as possible, and the really dangerous germs contained.
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
24 Sep 15
I'm not a germaphobe ... we clean our house and surfaces regularly after washing up etc ... and normal household chores... but I'm a great believer in not using sanitizer, as I have built in antibodies that can work when called too... and I feel over use of sanitizer may reduce the bodies abilities of fighting germs.... for me I think the fear of germs is more debilitating than actual germs... how sick have you got from any of the things you've mentioned... but how stressed are you ... since you found out about them.... ?? like you said we are bombarded with germs on a daily basis, and most of us are un affected....
1 person likes this
