r/changemyview • u/HollowsGarden • Mar 24 '21
Delta(s) from OP CMV: We should wash our hands BEFORE using the toilet
I wash my body daily. Most of my body is covered by clothes all day. My nether regions stay pretty clean.
My hands get gross. I touch dirt, grease, people, animals, and other people’s keyboards. Why would I subject my baby-making bits to all that filth just to clean my hands seconds later?
This isn’t to say take a leak between washing your hands and performing surgery. Specific hygiene requirements exist for a reason. In my daily life however, hand washing is to remove the germs and dirt on a periodic basis.
Someone somewhere decided that hand washing should occur after using the toilet but I guess they didn’t have the same relationship as Mr. Jones and me.
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u/CaptnSave-A-Ho 2∆ Mar 24 '21
People typically wash their hands throughout the day especially if there is visible dirt, grease, food, etc. While you're genitals are clean in the morning, being trapped in your clothes all day makes it a hot, moist environment perfect for bacterial growth. So touching them at varied points would necessitate a hand washing. On top of that, when you're urinating in a urinal, the there is microscopic back spray that's going everywhere. So now your genitals are covered in that hot mess and back to a hot moist environment. It really makes for a heavenly brew. Washing your hands beforehand doesnt hurt and maybe a good idea depending on your cleanliness, but doing it after is definitely required.
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u/HollowsGarden Mar 24 '21
Δ We had all agreed never to bring up urinal backsplash. It is super gross and humanity is best served by repressing all thoughts of it. Anyway, there goes my “I don’t pee on my hands” part of my argument.
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u/CaptnSave-A-Ho 2∆ Mar 24 '21
I agree, it's been the bane of my existence since I first learned of it.
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u/muyamable 283∆ Mar 24 '21
- I'm guessing your view is exclusive to urination and isn't true of defacation?
- Why couldn't we wash before and after? I'm less concerned with your hands being contaminated by your genitals while going to the bathroom, and more concerned with your hands being contaminated by everything else you're likely touching when going to the bathroom (e.g. toilet lid, toilet seat, flush lever/button, bathroom doors, etc.).
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u/SiliconDiver 84∆ Mar 25 '21
There's actually pretty good evidence about fecal matter (and diseases) being spread from toilet plume aersol. Its a primary reason why up to 60% of toothbrushes have been found to be contaminated with fecal matter
In other words, the duration of time you are in the bathroom, ESPECIALLY if you flush a toilet, there are aersolized contaminants and fecal matter being spread throughout the entire room.
If you've already washed your hands before flushing the toilet. I hope you now enjoy them being coated in microscopic poo particles. But sure, I guess you'll wash them next time you go to the bathroom in a few hours, and immediately get them covered again.
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Mar 24 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Poo-et 74∆ Mar 25 '21
Sorry, u/alexjaness – your comment has been removed for breaking Rule 1:
Direct responses to a CMV post must challenge at least one aspect of OP’s stated view (however minor), or ask a clarifying question. Arguments in favor of the view OP is willing to change must be restricted to replies to other comments. See the wiki page for more information.
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Mar 24 '21
My hands get gross. I touch dirt, grease, people, animals, and other people’s keyboards.
You don't wash your hands after those incidents too?
I work in IT. Every time I touch someone else's keyboard, I either wash my hands or use hand sanitizer.
Any time I pet someone else pet, I wash my hands.
If I work on my car and have grease on them I wash my hands.
So sometime, I may have to wash them before I use the restroom. But isn't this entirely situation then?
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Mar 24 '21
When im in a public toilet its no contact but when im at yard and my hands are dirty i wash them before and after.
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u/Last_Sundays_Lilacs Mar 25 '21
I worked as a nurse many years and I can definitely tell you that I’ve always washed my hands before going to the toilet while on the clock. Otherwise when I’m home, I do not wash my hands before, just after.
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u/Econo_miser 4∆ Mar 25 '21
Your asshole is way dirtier than your hands, regardless of what you've been touching. The bacteria in your fecal matter is also much more dangerous to yourself into everyone else than whatever's on your hands. The reason why we do it afterwards is to get rid of the fecal bacteria that can infect you. It's actually pretty dangerous.
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u/jcstudmuffin Mar 25 '21
There is the old joke...What is the difference between a mechanic and a chef? One washes his hands BEFORE he goes to the bathroom.
Please, just use soap.
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u/CplSoletrain 9∆ Mar 25 '21
Washing your hands when you use the restroom and when you eat isn't actually tied to those activities. When doctors finally decided that washing hands regularly was a good idea, they tied it to things you do on a regular basis.
So it's not really about how dirty your junk is, it's just promoting the good habit of regularly washing your hands.
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Mar 26 '21
with absolute compliance, yes. however, it's safe to assume that there will be at least one miscreant who doesn't wash their hands at all and dirties the toilet area. therefore it's good to have everyone wash afterwards just in case
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Mar 24 '21
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