Monday, September 17, 2007

We Men Don't Wash Our Hands

A study by some peeping toms reports that women are "better" at washing their hands after using the bathroom than men.

This reminds me of the old adage, "They taught me not to pee on my hands in the Boy Scouts."

They claim that this makes women cleaner than men. I am not sure this is an accurate statement. Primarily because of anatomical differences between men and women. Lets face it of the two types of urinary appendages the male is "cleaner" because it is an exterior appendage and is not apart of the mucosal membrane and negates the need to come into contact with the area of evacuation of bodily fluids. I think it would be interesting to see a study that examines the bacterial concentration on men's and women's hands pre- and post- urination visit. That would be a better measure than watching people wash their hands in the bathroom.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Think about this...a man who showers in the morning, gets dressed for work and goes to the bathroom hours later is being blasted for not washing before he leaves the restroom. Normally a man has 2 layers of clothing covering up the concerned area of his body. His hands are touching everything in sight all morning. I believe a health concious man would wash his hands before he goes to the bathroom, because he is about to touch a clean, covered area with a hand full of germs. Most men don't urinate all over their hands either. I think men should wash before not after.

Unknown said...

As others have mentioned, I don't pee on my hands and my penis is clean. Also...I don't FLUSH. Can you imagine how dirty the urinal handle could be.

Also - did anyone ask - specifically- whether the men and women in question were peeing or crapping? I ALWAYS wash after wiping my butt.

Dr. Luther in the 21st Century said...

Dan, I never thought of it that way, although I do wash before using the restroom after handling cayenne peppers. I had a friend who forgot once, don't think he will ever forget that experience.

Frank, that is a good question. I am similar in practice with the exception of Sunday morning, I always wash when there is going to be communion, just to be nice to the congregation. Not that they know, it isn't exactly something I include in the sermon.

Lutheran Lucciola said...

Oh FATA DIANA, boys.......BOYS!

Wash your hands!! Look, unless you just pull your pants down, and sit on the seat, and don't flush, I really don't want to shake your penis hand. Please. Is that what I am doing, when I pass the peace? I'm passing the penis?

Oh, I'm gonna vomit now.

I'm going to get you boys back, just wait. I have made notes of the three of you on the comment section here, and I will get you back for this. Served cold. ;-)

Dr. Luther in the 21st Century said...

If really want to know you are probably passing a lot of things when you are passing the peace. Some questions are best left unanswered, like what is in luncheon meat. ;)

Seriously, most men keep that area pretty clean and it is rather easy to do. Besides, all the antibacterial soaps and hand washing do more harm than good when used outside of certain settings, in addition, they require far more scrubbing than what happens in the average bathroom setting.

Did I ever tell you all I have a background in Microbiology?

P.S. I apologize to all who saw the comment from the rather immature anonymous poster. I generally do not have comment moderation turned on because I want people to feel free to comment even if they do not agree with me. But I will turn it on to delete crude and foul language. I am trying to keep things PG here.

Lutheran Lucciola said...

I'm going to have a hard time keeping a straight face on Sunday as I shake hands. People already think I'm nuts, now I'm going to be giggling as I say "God's Peace". Man, I'm never going to fit in!

I am not a germ-a-phobe, so I don't even have the anti-bacterial anything. Just regular soap.

Speaking of comment moderation, I probably will have to do that in the upcoming weeks. Which stinks, but I have a feeling it may get rocky at my place.