What's the deal with germophobes?

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
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Okay I thought I was one myself(I wipe the phones and keyboards down with alcohol and cotton wool first thing in the morning everyday before doing anything else) but this seemed a bit ridiculous.

A customer came to buy a product. She signed for it and had to use one of those electronic pen thingy to sign. She opened her purse and rubbed some kind of portable hand sanitizer. She now had to pay for said product using debit and had to use the same electronic pen again to punch in her pin. She rubbed the portable hand sanitizer solution from her purse again a second time.

She herself already had the sniffles so I'm not sure what she's is accomplishing by doing that.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
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She isn't any worse than you. I'm guessing many people coming to pick-up prescriptions are sick, some even still contagious. Why not be safer than sorry? That's why you do it right?
 

HamburgerBoy

Lifer
Apr 12, 2004
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318
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She isn't any worse than you. I'm guessing many people coming to pick-up prescriptions are sick, some even still contagious. Why not be safer than sorry? That's why you do it right?

How is wiping down a keyboard once a day comparable to not being able to wait thirty seconds to see if all potential germ-infested surfaces have been encountered?
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
She isn't any worse than you. I'm guessing many people coming to pick-up prescriptions are sick, some even still contagious. Why not be safer than sorry? That's why you do it right?

I consider myself a germophobe(yes, I'm that guy that uses paper towels to open/touch the restroom door handle when leaving after washing my hands), but she took hers to another level.
I don't do that when I use the pens at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I also don't do that when I purchase things using the same electronic pen she used.

Well, she could at least have waited till she finished buying the product so she would only need to use her hand sanitizer once.
Doing that twice when you know you're going to have to touch the pen again anyway is a bit excessive.

I don't wipe my phone or keyboard after someone else uses it after I already cleaned it at the beginning of my shift. Once a day is enough.

Also, majority of our patients have chronic conditions(Blood pressure, Diabetes, Pain etc...) not acute conditions like colds or infections.
 
Last edited:
May 11, 2008
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If you give not your immune system a task to perform, it will turn against you.

Washing your hands after toilet visits is normal as is washing your hands before you eat.
(Reducing bacteria infections)
When you have used lethal chemicals, washing your hands is good.
(Reducing Toxicity effects)
After you have been digging in the soil, washing your hands is good.
(Reducing parasitic worm infections).
After you used public transport and when you come into work or home, washing your hands before you perform any action is good.
(Reducing bacterial infections and even body fluids that may contain viral infections)

Most common non lethal viruses are airborn. This means these viruses are passed on through the air hiding in an aerosol of fine water droplets that are breathed out or sometimes sneezed out. Some bacterial infections are air born as well.
When you are too clean, your immune system has no previous experience how to handle pathogens.

Word of advise :
When you do not use your muscles, these muscles will disappear.
(Normal healthy muscle atrophy when working out is stopped and the diet is adjusted...)
When you not use your brain, it will turn against you.
(humans without education are on average more paranoid then those humans that are educated unless a mental condition is present...)
When you do not use your immune system, it will turn against you.
(Auto immune diseases that are not caused by molecular mimicry...)
 
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Veliko

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2011
3,597
127
106
Okay I thought I was one myself(I wipe the phones and keyboards down with alcohol and cotton wool first thing in the morning everyday before doing anything else) but this seemed a bit ridiculous.

A customer came to buy a product. She signed for it and had to use one of those electronic pen thingy to sign. She opened her purse and rubbed some kind of portable hand sanitizer. She now had to pay for said product using debit and had to use the same electronic pen again to punch in her pin. She rubbed the portable hand sanitizer solution from her purse again a second time.

In all honesty these two things are as absurd as each other.
 

RearAdmiral

Platinum Member
Jun 24, 2004
2,279
134
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This is why I don't wash my hands after I poop and shake hands with everyone. It's all about balance people.
 

CraKaJaX

Lifer
Dec 26, 2004
11,905
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"What are with all these fucking people? Germophobes or whatever the fuck they are. Wiping shit down, washing every orifice before leaving the bathroom.. Unless you work out or work outdoors, there's no need to shower 2...3 times a day. And oh, you don't have to wash your hands every time you go to the bathroom either -- that's overkill. You know when I wash my hands? WHEN I SHIT ON THEM! And that happens... once... twice a week, tops." - George Carlin
 

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,738
3,651
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Okay I thought I was one myself(I wipe the phones and keyboards down with alcohol and cotton wool first thing in the morning everyday before doing anything else) but this seemed a bit ridiculous.

WTF is "cotton wool"?
 

Saint Nick

Lifer
Jan 21, 2005
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seinfeld1.jpg
 

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
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I am of the opinion that given a regular dose of 'germs' keeps the immune system strong and healthy. I feel that germophobes go too far and actually ended weakening their immune systems by babying it too much. Sort of like when I am doing my vegetable garden I find that the plants I baby too much end up frail and dying sooner than the plants I just sort of leave be and fend for themselves unless seriously threatened.

So this means I wont wash every surface before I touch it or wash my hands every 5 minutes or cringe when I have to shake someone's hand.

But I will make sure I do the common decency of washing my hands after using the bathroom.

And for whatever this anecdote is worth - I haven't been sick in years. I rarely get sick while the germophobes I know of are sick quite frequently.
 

SillyOReilly

Golden Member
Aug 11, 2007
1,532
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I am of the opinion that given a regular dose of 'germs' keeps the immune system strong and healthy. I feel that germophobes go too far and actually ended weakening their immune systems by babying it too much. Sort of like when I am doing my vegetable garden I find that the plants I baby too much end up frail and dying sooner than the plants I just sort of leave be and fend for themselves unless seriously threatened.

So this means I wont wash every surface before I touch it or wash my hands every 5 minutes or cringe when I have to shake someone's hand.

But I will make sure I do the common decency of washing my hands after using the bathroom.

And for whatever this anecdote is worth - I haven't been sick in years. I rarely get sick while the germophobes I know of are sick quite frequently.

I think you should go to the CDC and ask them for a dose of smallpox
 

imagoon

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2003
5,199
0
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Really?
Did you seriously think this was an appropriate response for weaponized smallpox?
You're dumb, please don't try to be witty.

Searched the thread for weaponized small pox:

Results found: Your post.

"You're dumb" Hmmm. Good job internet tough guy. Smallpox scabs and the like were used before cowpox as a vaccine. Fatality rates of 2-3% was considered better than 30%. It also seems you manufactured something in your mind that wasn't stated in the thread. Take that as what you will.
 

SillyOReilly

Golden Member
Aug 11, 2007
1,532
6
81
Searched the thread for weaponized small pox:

Results found: Your post.

"You're dumb" Hmmm. Good job internet tough guy. Smallpox scabs and the like were used before cowpox as a vaccine. Fatality rates of 2-3% was considered better than 30%. It also seems you manufactured something in your mind that wasn't stated in the thread. Take that as what you will.

Nice rant, I'm sure you're furiously slamming the keyboard now, dumb fuck.

And LOL @ internet tough guy. Poor baby, stop gnashing your teeth and throwing a hissy fit because you thought you were saying something witty again, and you look more like an idiot with every post.
 

imagoon

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2003
5,199
0
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Nice rant, I'm sure you're furiously slamming the keyboard now, dumb fuck.

And LOL @ internet tough guy. Poor baby, stop gnashing your teeth and throwing a hissy fit because you thought you were saying something witty again, and you look more like an idiot with every post.

Yup that's me. Go ahead and keep believing that if it makes you feel better.
 

SillyOReilly

Golden Member
Aug 11, 2007
1,532
6
81
Yup that's me. Go ahead and keep believing that if it makes you feel better.

I guess your usage of "internet tough guy" was because I called you dumb? That doesn't mean I'm tough, it's an observation and I'm quite sure is a statement of fact.

If you're implying I wouldn't call you stupid and a dumb fuck to your face, you'd be wrong in that regard as well.
 

imagoon

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2003
5,199
0
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What I find amusing is in quite a few cases the germophobes (at least here in the office) make the bathrooms even dirtier. IE toilet paper on the seats, which they won't touch to flush. The door closes it flies all over the stalls. We also have a couple of people that use paper towels to open the restroom door and promptly throw the wad of paper in the corner of the floor... Then there is the "hovering women" issue....
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
In all honesty these two things are as absurd as each other.

Wiping down once a day every morning versus putting hand sanitizer on your hands every single time you touch something...You honestly don't see a difference?
It's not like I have my own personal desk, phone, or computer. If I was in a personal cube or had my own personal office, I wouldn't be wiping anything down for sure.

If you also don't see a difference also between showering once a day versus showering 5 times a day, I can't help you there.