What is the mental block against handwashing??

[Trickie Dickie]

This is why I absolutely refuse to touch a public door handle. YUCK! :mad:

[SchoolNurseMom]

and I bet that the seats would be a lot cleaner if people did not hover! The ones that are paranoid about sitting on the seat are the ones that are making them nasty in the first place!:eek:

[yankeechick78]

I have YET to have been on a cruise where I don't come out of the bathrom stall, wash my hands and stand there and witness at least 1 or 2 women (often more) leave their stall and immediately exit the bathroom. HOW HARD IS IT TO WASH YOUR HANDS???? I would greatly appreciate it if people would wash their hands so that I can stay healthy on my cruise and enjoy it without the dirty, non-handwashers infecting everything around me. AND.....that includes the employees of RCI. Imagine if they do the same thing (which I can almost guarantee some of them do)....go to the bathroom then walk into the Windjammer, move your fries with their hands, then wonder why everyone is sick????

 

It's not cruising that should be getting a bad name; it's the idiots who don't comply with simple guidelines to keep everyone safe and/or healthy.

 

PLEASE............to you people who normally don't believe in handwashing...be considerate of others around you and realize how many people your actions are affecting.

I will do my part to meticulously scrub my hands every chance I get, use the hand sanitizers every chance I get (and BTW the hand sanitizers should not be a substitute for washing after you've used the restroom....try both for extra safety!!), keep my hands off of railings, elevator buttons, door knobs, my mouth/nose/etc. and try to stay healthy and enjoy my cruise that I've worked insanely hard to afford to take this March.

 

Off my soapbox now!!:p

 

 

It happens everywhere not just on ships. I hear women leave the office bathroom without washing or just splashing water on their hands (as if that helps).

[yankeechick78]

This is why I absolutely refuse to touch a public door handle. YUCK! :mad:

 

I had a coworker laugh at me for taking a paper towel and using it to open the door. I asked her if she saw the people that leave without washing their hands?

[magenta321]

I totally believe in ostracizing anyone you see not washing their hands.

 

Also, people who put a little water on their hands without using soap and lathering are actually spreading the germs worse than if they didn't do anything at all. They need to be educated. And ostracized.

 

And maybe stoned.

 

Tarred and feathered too.

 

I find it reprehensible that any grown adult would not know what to do after using a restroom!

[irukandjisting]

Don't care what others do or don't do - always wash hands - particularly always on a ship - always use hand gel before picking up a plate... always - should go without saying :rolleyes:.... yeh and I grasp the paper towel on handle idea :cool:

[Trickie Dickie]

Don't care what others do or don't do - always wash hands - particularly always on a ship - always use hand gel before picking up a plate... always - should go without saying :rolleyes:.... yeh and I grasp the paper towel on handle idea :cool:

 

The gels don't work on feces related bacteria like C.Diff. Soap and Water only!

[Toodang]

Ocean boy...have you ever sat on a wet toilet seat?

[billie5]

I totally believe in ostracizing anyone you see not washing their hands.

As well as the people who "hover," although how you would see them beats me! They are probably more dangerous than the people who do not wash their hands. Just how do they clean the seat after their "hovering"? Do they carry disinfectant with them, or just swish around some paper, making sure they well distribute any microorganisms they have splashed onto the seat?

 

Actually, I must admit I never even knew people hovered. Only my cabin toilet for me from now on.:eek:

[hwfiv]

You can add to that list the people that don't seem to find a need to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. Sends me into ORBIT! And believe me, I DO say something. I work too hard and enjoy my life FAR too much to be getting other people's viruses.

[monkeyinhat]

I got scorched a couple yrs ago on this board by a woman who said that she uses hand sanitizer after she leaves the bathroom rather than washing her hands in the restroom and therefore she is sanitary and does not spread disease. My thoughts that she is still nasty for not washing her hands with soap and water before exiting the restroom was appaling to others and was given a lecture how hand sanitizing is better and doing it that way better than touching the nasty faucets. :rolleyes:

 

But then again I am the one who washes their hands in the restroom and turns around and hits the sanitizer again before entering the food area

[yankeechick78]

You can add to that list the people that don't seem to find a need to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. Sends me into ORBIT! And believe me, I DO say something. I work too hard and enjoy my life FAR too much to be getting other people's viruses.

 

ME TOO !! Huge pet peeve!!

[yankeechick78]

I got scorched a couple yrs ago on this board by a woman who said that she uses hand sanitizer after she leaves the bathroom rather than washing her hands in the restroom and therefore she is sanitary and does not spread disease. My thoughts that she is still nasty for not washing her hands with soap and water before exiting the restroom was appaling to others and was given a lecture how hand sanitizing is better and doing it that way better than touching the nasty faucets. :rolleyes:

 

But then again I am the one who washes their hands in the restroom and turns around and hits the sanitizer again before entering the food area

 

So she leaves the bathroom with her dirty hands and touches the door handle. SO the poor sap who just washed their hands and touches the door knob has her dirty germs on their hands.

[swedish1]

This is why I absolutely refuse to touch a public door handle. YUCK! :mad:

 

elbow works really good on handicap door to get in and out but i find my self cleaning the remote for the tv no matter where i am!

[adjburch]

I'm allergic to some soaps but carry the foil packs of hand wipes with germ killing stuff in them and keep them in my purse and car. So when you see someone leave a restroom that didn't wash with the soap and water maybe they used an antibacterial wipe.

 

I can't use that gel stuff they have on the ships. It breaks my hands out in blisters that itch. I really like the Wet Ones! Antibacterial wipes the best.

[adjburch]

A doctor told me that the gel stuff doesn't work that well on norovirus and I just went to wikipedia and looked it up and it said

 

Alcohol rub sanitizers are not very effective against Norovirus (winter vomiting virus) unless they are combined with benzalkonium chloride in a hand sanitizer.[21]

 

Last cruise, even though I knew the soap would break my hands out, I washed and washed and washed and took lots of wet ones with me.

[jebuell]

I work with kids and we preach the ABCs handwashing technique. They get candy for getting to "Z". :)

 

This is also a pet peeve of mine. And FYI, if you don't think you're hands are dirty when you leave the bathroom think of this- in HS we were taught that you should flush the toilet using your foot/shoe instead of your hands (on the type with the metal handle that sticks out). So when you touch that handle, you're touching everything I walked on all day. PS- consider using your foot to flush in the future!

[clean1owner]

For all those complaining about whizz on the toilet seat, according to the instructor in my Certified Pool Operators class, it actually contains ammonia, which makes it more of a cleaner than a serious germ spreader. Fecal matter, on the other hand, has the bacteria that will really make you sick.

 

The worst culprit is saliva and snot from the nose. So what makes me shudder is the person who gets their business done, washes their hands, then blows their nose and walks out. Once again according to the instructor, this person is doing the most damage.

[kagmama]

After using the restroom, washing hands with soap and warm/hot water and scrubbing well and for a long time just seems common sense. When my daughter was 10 months old she had Norovirus and it was awful. We were NOT on a cruise, or vacation. We had gone to the grocery store that day and something she touched there must have had the germs. We took her to the doctor within 10 hours of her first sick "episode" and they rushed us to the hospital because she was so dehydrated (she could not even keep a drop of water down). She was in the hospital for 2 days on an IV for fluids. She was sick the entire time she was in the hospital, many many times a day / night. Even when they sent us home she still had sick "episodes" for a few days following. She was so very sick. It is a nasty awful virus. Please wash your hands...with soap...every time you use the bathroom whether you are at home or in public. Thank you.

[sr5242]

Thats the same way I feel about people flushing! I mean seriously, its the push of a button!

 

Or covering your mouth when you cough!

[soakedbythesea]

There are some common sense preventions to help prevent the spread of norovirus, on ships or off. The CDC has some good information here:

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Norovirus/

 

Also, some foods cause symptoms that are much like norovirus, so if you notice something that does not seem right, like smelly seafood or tainted dishes containing eggs or mayo, you might want to avoid them. I would say to report them, but most crews do not have the authority or willingness to throw out food and their superiors are under too much pressure from hq to make any extreme changes, even though they will tell us otherwise.

 

So, wash, wash, wash - careful what you touch and eat!

 

But, have fun. Then, wash again :--)

[slackerjen]

I will preface this with saying that I wash my hands in public restrooms...with soap..for at least 20 seconds. Also, I've never hovered (actually most of the time I end up having to clean up after people who do that). I've never not flushed either. I don't understand people who would just leave a stall worse than they found it...just like littering outside...I would never do that.

 

With all that said, I can actually understand people that don't wash their hands. Bare with me here...Sometimes I notice that I didn't touch anything. I didn't touch the toilet or seat and I didn't touch my body in any way. All i touch is the toilet paper and use toilet paper as well to flush. So then I go wash my hands anyway knowing that if I didn't people would be like OMG she didn't wash and also because I realize that at some point since the last time I washed my hands I probably touched something with germs even if it wasn't in the bathroom. So it's a good thing to wash anyways.

In the winter, I normally have gloves on and I don't even think about it until I come out of the stall and I think...Well I had gloves on the whole time, do I take them off to wash my hands? and of course I do because...again...people will see me just walking out and think OMG she didn't wash her hands (although my hands were clean to begin with and in gloves the whole time) That just seems silly. Honestly I'd rather just walk out at that point but God forbid I get the look from people.

Well when I'm at home and no one is there to see I may or may not wash my hands and that's MY perogative (and I get sick about 2 times a year) but while I'm out...sure I'll wash my hands because YOU (our society in general) want me to even if I didn't touch anything in that bathroom. No problem really it's just a minute or two.

[Denese96]

I was raised to be a hand washer. After using the bathroom, when you wake up, before you eat, after you eat,when you sneeze, cough, blow your nose,etc., before going in the fridge,when you come inside, before you go to bed and so on. I can not understand why others don't. If it did not affect me in any way, I would not care.

 

I can not hover nor can I raise my leg high enough to flush the waist high handle obviously intended for hand use.

 

It would be nice for those that can do all of the above and absolutely not touch anything to be kind to those who can't and wash your darn hands. Please and thank you.

[jebuell]

I will preface this with saying that I wash my hands in public restrooms...with soap..for at least 20 seconds. Also, I've never hovered (actually most of the time I end up having to clean up after people who do that). I've never not flushed either. I don't understand people who would just leave a stall worse than they found it...just like littering outside...I would never do that.

 

With all that said, I can actually understand people that don't wash their hands. Bare with me here...Sometimes I notice that I didn't touch anything. I didn't touch the toilet or seat and I didn't touch my body in any way. All i touch is the toilet paper and use toilet paper as well to flush. So then I go wash my hands anyway knowing that if I didn't people would be like OMG she didn't wash and also because I realize that at some point since the last time I washed my hands I probably touched something with germs even if it wasn't in the bathroom. So it's a good thing to wash anyways.

In the winter, I normally have gloves on and I don't even think about it until I come out of the stall and I think...Well I had gloves on the whole time, do I take them off to wash my hands? and of course I do because...again...people will see me just walking out and think OMG she didn't wash her hands (although my hands were clean to begin with and in gloves the whole time) That just seems silly. Honestly I'd rather just walk out at that point but God forbid I get the look from people.

Well when I'm at home and no one is there to see I may or may not wash my hands and that's MY perogative (and I get sick about 2 times a year) but while I'm out...sure I'll wash my hands because YOU (our society in general) want me to even if I didn't touch anything in that bathroom. No problem really it's just a minute or two.

 

*WARNING to any men who are still reading this thread... you probably don't want to/care to read what I'm about to say!*

 

Well, a little anatomy lesson here, where you urinate from is very close to where fecal matter is released from. Very close. And even if you only go #1 in the bathroom there is probably still fecal matter present where you will wipe. Unless you're a nudist and only fart standing up in which case I don't really care to live in your nudist colony... It's also the reason why women who wear thongs experience more UTIs then those that wear regular panties. Even if you don't fart, bacteria can still travel along the underwear highway and travel up to... well, you get what I'm getting at.

 

Also the toilet paper I've encountered on cruise ships isn't the cushy thick, 2 ply stuff, it is made of a very porous material and does not block out bacteria, so if you wipe anywhere else or when you use it to flush, you will pick up all that bacteria along with what you just wiped off yourself. It's not like you're wiping with latex. Bacteria can and does go straight through the TP.

 

People don't give you that look because they're being snotty. People are probably legitimately concerned about their own health which is affected by others not wiping.

[cruizefam]

I will preface this with saying that I wash my hands in public restrooms...with soap..for at least 20 seconds. Also, I've never hovered (actually most of the time I end up having to clean up after people who do that). I've never not flushed either. I don't understand people who would just leave a stall worse than they found it...just like littering outside...I would never do that.

 

With all that said, I can actually understand people that don't wash their hands. Bare with me here...Sometimes I notice that I didn't touch anything. I didn't touch the toilet or seat and I didn't touch my body in any way. All i touch is the toilet paper and use toilet paper as well to flush. So then I go wash my hands anyway knowing that if I didn't people would be like OMG she didn't wash and also because I realize that at some point since the last time I washed my hands I probably touched something with germs even if it wasn't in the bathroom. So it's a good thing to wash anyways.

In the winter, I normally have gloves on and I don't even think about it until I come out of the stall and I think...Well I had gloves on the whole time, do I take them off to wash my hands? and of course I do because...again...people will see me just walking out and think OMG she didn't wash her hands (although my hands were clean to begin with and in gloves the whole time) That just seems silly. Honestly I'd rather just walk out at that point but God forbid I get the look from people.

Well when I'm at home and no one is there to see I may or may not wash my hands and that's MY perogative (and I get sick about 2 times a year) but while I'm out...sure I'll wash my hands because YOU (our society in general) want me to even if I didn't touch anything in that bathroom. No problem really it's just a minute or two.

 

I tried very hard not too respond....

 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

 

AND GOING WITH GLOVES??? SERIOUSLY??

 

I now think there should be directions placed in the restroom on "how too" for those that don't know any better!!!!!