Gosh what a surprise.

[conuly]

Touch screens on phones have more germs per square inch than toilets.

Well, no duh. YOU DON'T BREATHE ONTO TOILETS.

Comments

[noodles-morgyn.livejournal.com]

Seems like a lot of stuff has more germs than toilets. Maybe toilets shouldn't be the benchmark?

[conuly]

That's the whole point of my "toilets" tag, in fact. It's my understanding that the toilet seats in public bathrooms are just about the cleanest thing around. Seriously, you could eat your lunch off of those, and it might be cleaner than the tables!

[eofs.livejournal.com]

They also never qualify the nature of the germs. There's a big difference between cholera and the common cold.

[conuly]

Not true. Many times they explain specifically that they were looking for e. coli or flu or something like that. (And of course you're MUCH more likely to find flu on something you breathe on than on a toilet seat, but I doubt you'd find much e. coli on a toilet seat either unless you REALLY can't make it!)

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Oh, fair enough. I seem to hear a lot without the qualification.

On a tangent, I was watching a programme recently about e numbers. They were developing some sort of additive in yoghurt which would make it turn bright magenta if too much e coli built up. Was rather an interesting concept.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Which is why I'm always wiping mine off (several times a day) even though I don't have a touchscreen, just a keypad. ****Formative Event: In one of my first jobs--in a hospital!--I answered the phone, noticed that it was 'sticky' when I clamped it between my ear and shoulder, and looked at it once the call was over. To my horror, the offwhite plastic was black with caked filth on the earpiece. I scrubbed it off with bleachwater and have been real particular about phones ever since.****

I also admit to having a Major Hang-Up about touching strange toilets WITH MY HANDS. At work I carry a small spray bottle of disinfectant, and in places like gas stations I manage with my foot. (Did you know you can raise the lid, lower the seat, and flush all with your sneaker? You then turn on the water to wash by using your elbows, since you seldom touch food or face with your elbow.)

[conuly]

So long as you don't object to touching them with your butt. The hoverers need to learn to WIPE when they PEE.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Remember the "Food & Face" thing I mentioned. I eat with my hands, suffer hangnails, wipe my eyes, etc. Getting germs on my butt concerns me much less than hands. (If you get hangnails of the buttocks, you probably need to tell the AMA.)

People who don't clean up after themselves are just disgusting.

(Event at same hospital: wing full of women, admins/nurses, and male Xerox repairman comes in. Not only does he leave the seat up, urine was sprinkled from wall to wall in the general area of the [unisex] toilet. It was discovered after he left, whereupon one admin made excuses for him, saying some medical conditions led to similar sprinkling. I made the acid-toned inquiry as to which medical condition prevented him from wiping up after himself.)