wash your hands?

i was out on friday night. hip-hop, ya don’t stop, dance until the something –op. going out to a hip-hop club is fun, but not that much fun. i like house music better. i’m a self diagnosed closet case music nazi. i really dislike hip hop clubs to be quite frank. but my friends enjoy it, and if they are having fun, so am i.

while visiting this hippity hopping extravaganza i found myself waiting in line to utilize the facilities. i usually drink a few extra drinks at hip hop clubs in order to repress my inner dj critic and enjoy the evening. there was a urinal to the left, sink in the middle, and to the right, a broken door stall with a toilet obviously was missing a sign that said “try not to make it in”.

the guy to the right was finished, did his little shake, zipped up, and left. i took his spot and started my business. the urinal user up and left and was replaced by another hip hopper. i finished, and started washing my hands. the second urinal user left just before i turned around to find that this no-door bathroom lacked means to dry one’s freshly washed hands. no paper towels, and no hot air dryer thingy.

in the time it took me to use the restroom and wash my hands, 4 other guys had used the bathroom and left sans washing their hands. club milk has no doors on the restroom, but in all the other restrooms i’ve been to, they have doors. those doors have handles that everyone touches. in my brief experience where 4 of 5 men didn’t wash their hands, i would have basically grabbed all their germs/diseases/bogusness when opening the door.

i recall a comic sketch, i don’t recall who the comic was, who asked the question: why wash your hands after going to the restroom? his point was that after the shower, his little soilder didn’t see anything but the inside of his tide fresh boxers. whereas his hands were touching shoes, door knobs, car handles, and many other dirty objects. with these unclean hands you go and touch your clean, most unexposed part of your body? and then you are supposed to wash your hands?

his point was pretty funny. but i did a bit of research online and found out that disease can spread due to lack of washing hands. different grody things can happen when people don’t wash their hands, and it isn’t pretty.

i always wash my hands. would i be writing this if i didn’t? i have to confess, it’s not because i’m afraid of dirty hands or spreading disease. i have clammy hands. and washing them every once in a while feels nice. i don’t take special trips to the bathroom just to wash my hands, unless i’m going to eat at a restaurant that has finger foods.

women are way more likely to wash their hands when going to the restroom. if i was a girl i’d feel a dirty gross feeling after visiting a public restroom, and most likely run to the faucet to wash my hands. women have to actually touch the restroom, yet us men don't normally come into contact with the public toilets.

regardless, i’m going to think twice before shaking someone’s hand from now on, especially at club milk.