Wash your hands after you use the bathroom, dammit

[Asbestos Mango]

Yesterday, at my adult day treatment center, I saw a woman leave the bathroom stall and breeze out of the restroom without washing her hands.

Eeew.

This is a person I have done several readings for during lunch or breaks, and actually, almost immediately after I left the bathroom, she asked for a reading. I refused and told her (truthfully, I've been very depressed lately) that the part of my brain that does that wasn't working. I didn't have the nerve to confront her, but in retrospect, I think I should have. This is an issue that has been brought up in wrap-up group several times, people not washing their hands after using the bathroom. Then they go all over the place and touch tables, chairs, and yes, Tarot cards that other people also touch, potentially picking up bacteria that the non-hand washers have left around the place.

Again, Eeew.

My pocket RWS now has little white spots all over it because I just misted the cards with alcohol and wiped them off because someone who doesn't wash their hands after using the bathroom touched these cards. Oh well, the images are still readable, but, damn, I never thought I would have to sanitize my Tarot cards. Though now that I think about it, it's getting to be cold and flu season here in the Northern Hemisphere, and potentially people who are shedding virus might be touching, well, lots of stuff I touch...

Anyway, from now on, I'm going to be carrying a small bottle of hand sanitizer and nobody, and I mean NOBODY is going to be touching my cards until they've used it first.

Really.

Just... eeew.

 

[The crowned one]

In your average mall cafe there are more surfaces with fecal matter then without. The food trays are the worst.

I sort of see my cards that I share like paper money, they are going to be crawling with bacteria, poop, and everything that lives on humans.

EDIT: I should add hand washing is a part of normal obvious hygiene and it is rather silly and gross not to wash them correctly.

 

[Hathor]

I am with you on this 1000% I think it is despicable and downright nasty when people do not wash their hands after going to the restroom. I'm a little neurotic and OCD when it comes to cleanliness and this is an issue that drives me insane, and I simply cannot pardon anyone who violates this simple gesture of hygiene.

Why is it so hard for some people to carve out 15 seconds to run their hands under soap and water when they know their hands were somewhere ? Or just get some hand sanitizer for gods sake ! I have seen this time and time again over the years and I just cringe in horror every time. Then, these same individuals go out and have the audacity to shake other people's hands and touch everything in sight.

It's just gross and inconsiderate.

 

[NikkiB]

Yesterday, at my adult day treatment center, I saw a woman leave the bathroom stall and breeze out of the restroom without washing her hands.

Eeew.


Anyway, from now on, I'm going to be carrying a small bottle of hand sanitizer and nobody, and I mean NOBODY is going to be touching my cards until they've used it first.

Really.

Just... eeew.

oh serious eeeeeew!! I can't bear it!

have you ever been in a pub when the men come out of the loo still zipping up their trousers?

In your average mall cafe there are more surfaces with fecal matter then without. The food trays are the worst.

I sort of see my cards that I share like paper money, they are going to be crawling with bacteria, poop, and everything that lives on humans.

OK you just did my diet the world of good!

I have hand wipes and rub in my bag at all times! so no way is anyone touching my cards without a scrub down first!

 

[Carla]

Well, this is why I don't eat out. But other than that, I think people can be a little too squeamish about these things. I don't let clients touch my tarot decks anyway, but still. Not washing your hands is kinda gross, but I think we can get too compulsive with the anti-bacterial wipes and gels and all that. Just don't bite your fingernails during or after a reading.

 

[cardlady22]

I have to bring my own wipes/sanitizer, or avoid public restrooms. Most of the public places have scented soaps and air fresheners that trigger my allergies horribly.

 

[The crowned one]

If you are going to use hand sanitizes ( I work in the hospital and prefer soap and warm water as my first choice, but sanitizes have their place without a doubt and I use them) make sure they are a min of 60%.. alcohol concentration under 60 percent won't kill the microbes. I consider them a supplement to good hand washing rather then a replacement

 

[daphne]

I think it`s exaggerated to ask this, but I understand your reaction.

I could never ask a sitter: could you please disinfect your hands before touching my cards (unless I see some macroscopic dirt on his hands).

It sounds almost as an offense. I mean, if somebody tells me this, I would be offended, it is like he treats me as I would be a filthy creature.

The fact is that humans are walking bacteria metropolitans.

Some of them respect common sense hygienic norms, some of them not, you cannot tell who`s doing what in their privacy, how many times they have a shower a week, pick their nose, wash after using toilet etc.
It just happened that you saw one, but usually you cannot tell who is washing hands and who is not after restroom use.

In normal settings, we just meet each other, interact with each other and, usually, never wonder about these things. That is why we have an immune system, to protect us. Usually it does a good job. And so we are able to walk with not problems around all these people, with all these different degrees of clean-ness.

 

[Zephyros]

There are studies that show that keyboards are five time dirtier than toilet seats. I understand your reaction, I never touch doorknobs in public bathrooms, for example, but there is such a thing as too fastidious, and humans are immune to most harmful bacteria that is present in the air, anyway. In addition, it seems that with every new improvement in cleaning products, our standards of cleanliness go up. Not that I'm a slob or anything, I just think that there are enough things to fret about without worrying about things I come in contact with whether I wash my hands fifty times or not.

However, if it does bother you, then make a habit of asking people to wash their hands before a reading, even making it as part of a "cleansing ritual." Even if the "ritual is only for you, it still is important to you, and makes you feel more at ease in the reading.

 

[The crowned one]

The only hygiene you can control is your own, so the trick is to wash your hands before and after a reading, rather then asking them to wash theirs. ( unless you do it for them how are you going to know it is up to your standards )