how deep is the ocean, how paranoid am i?
according to the oxford american dictionary, a phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. i think i am passing on one of mine to my son.
for as long as i can remember, i have had an aversion to public bathrooms. i can't go in there without a sense of disgust. no matter how clean the place may appear, my skin will be crawling for the duration of my visit. forget about any activity that might require sitting down; i have to be in a desperate situation for that to seem a viable option. my main goal upon entering a public restroom is to avoid touching anything with my bare skin. flushing the toilet? i use the bottom of my shoe. open the door? a paper towel will work just fine, thank you. a faucet is o.k. because i've already got soap on my fingers. it's amazing how happy i get when the door swings out, so i only need kick it open with my foot instead of pull it towards me.
as soon as jackson was old enough to walk into the restroom with me, our mantra has been ,"don't touch anything." i used to have him stand next to the wall (without touching it,) his hands on his chest, while he waited for me. now that he is older, and aware of his surroundings, he has taken it upon himself to remind me of the need to keep our hands to ourselves. i know, it's sad what i'm doing to this poor kid.
i have a real conundrum going when it is time to leave the facility. if it doesn't appear to be a WELL maintained restroom, and no sitting was involved, we vacillate over whether or not we should risk washing our hands. there are surely, more germs on the hand-washing apparatus than on my person, but it seems wrong to leave a bathroom without washing. still, sometimes it doesn't feel like the right thing to do. thank goodness for purell and other anti-bacterial liquids my wife keeps in her purse at all times. you make take this attitude to be grossly unhealthy and cavalier. my answer is that i simply choose not too urinate on my hands. of course, if sitting was involved; hands must be washed, and we make the best of the sink situation.
don't even get me started with those air-blowing hand driers. you wash your hands, and get them clean. although the place smells repulsive, you decide to dry your hands with that stinky air, which is being blown through a machine and warmed. if the room is foul smelling, what you are smelling are microscopic particles of the substance creating the smell. you just had a machine blow those particles all over your body. i think i may throw up just from thinking about doing this. i recently read a tale of a lady who allows her daughter to invert the nozzle of the blower in order to blow the air in her face and hair. is this cause for calling the authorities? there is not enough lysol in the world.
on a recent road trip, we made quite a few restroom stops. unfortunately, we found some of the most nauseating facilities in the southern united states. jackson coined a new phrase for these monuments to filth. he refers to a foul bathroom as being one that is "pooped out." i can't think of a more apt description.
intentionally, most of our stops were at truck stops. you may be thinking, "truckers are dirty. why would you deliberately stop where they congregate?" on the contrary. they may not be the most hygienic of individuals, but the restroom in a truck stop is usually extremely clean. see for yourself. no need to thank me for the advice.
for as long as i can remember, i have had an aversion to public bathrooms. i can't go in there without a sense of disgust. no matter how clean the place may appear, my skin will be crawling for the duration of my visit. forget about any activity that might require sitting down; i have to be in a desperate situation for that to seem a viable option. my main goal upon entering a public restroom is to avoid touching anything with my bare skin. flushing the toilet? i use the bottom of my shoe. open the door? a paper towel will work just fine, thank you. a faucet is o.k. because i've already got soap on my fingers. it's amazing how happy i get when the door swings out, so i only need kick it open with my foot instead of pull it towards me.
as soon as jackson was old enough to walk into the restroom with me, our mantra has been ,"don't touch anything." i used to have him stand next to the wall (without touching it,) his hands on his chest, while he waited for me. now that he is older, and aware of his surroundings, he has taken it upon himself to remind me of the need to keep our hands to ourselves. i know, it's sad what i'm doing to this poor kid.
i have a real conundrum going when it is time to leave the facility. if it doesn't appear to be a WELL maintained restroom, and no sitting was involved, we vacillate over whether or not we should risk washing our hands. there are surely, more germs on the hand-washing apparatus than on my person, but it seems wrong to leave a bathroom without washing. still, sometimes it doesn't feel like the right thing to do. thank goodness for purell and other anti-bacterial liquids my wife keeps in her purse at all times. you make take this attitude to be grossly unhealthy and cavalier. my answer is that i simply choose not too urinate on my hands. of course, if sitting was involved; hands must be washed, and we make the best of the sink situation.
don't even get me started with those air-blowing hand driers. you wash your hands, and get them clean. although the place smells repulsive, you decide to dry your hands with that stinky air, which is being blown through a machine and warmed. if the room is foul smelling, what you are smelling are microscopic particles of the substance creating the smell. you just had a machine blow those particles all over your body. i think i may throw up just from thinking about doing this. i recently read a tale of a lady who allows her daughter to invert the nozzle of the blower in order to blow the air in her face and hair. is this cause for calling the authorities? there is not enough lysol in the world.
on a recent road trip, we made quite a few restroom stops. unfortunately, we found some of the most nauseating facilities in the southern united states. jackson coined a new phrase for these monuments to filth. he refers to a foul bathroom as being one that is "pooped out." i can't think of a more apt description.
intentionally, most of our stops were at truck stops. you may be thinking, "truckers are dirty. why would you deliberately stop where they congregate?" on the contrary. they may not be the most hygienic of individuals, but the restroom in a truck stop is usually extremely clean. see for yourself. no need to thank me for the advice.
posted by cm at 1/03/2006
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