I get a lot of flack from some friends about how clean and particular I can be, especially when it comes to bathrooms. For instance, I simply refuse to use my hands to handle doors. There are ways around that. Or, for instance, I also hate certain kinds of soap scents because if eating out, the smell ruins a meal when I lift my hands to my mouth with fork-fulls of food.
But the one thing I will never apologize for is that every person wash their hands when you’re done with your business.
I was recently at a Walmart in Cincinnati where an older man came into the bathroom as I was urinating. I finished, went to the sink, washed my hands, and noted that the man that had stood next to me just finished his business and walked directly out of the bathroom.
Disgusting.
When I exited the bathroom I literally came to a dead stop as I saw standing 4 feet in front of the bathroom entrance, this man with his soiled hands holding onto his shopping cart, preparing to do his shopping.
I thought about tapping him on the shoulder and saying, “What makes you think I, as a parent, want your penis in my son’s mouth?” I mean, that handle bar on shopping carts is there for the kids in the seats as much as it’s there for the adult pushing the cart. Kids put their hands on these handle bars, which apparently are handled by adults with no shame.
I just stood there, amazed, judging him, and he walked away. Shouldn’t have judged him, but I did.
When I get a shopping cart I already never use my hands, and we also own a seat cover for shopping carts for my son. I used to try and be discreet about how my refusal to handle the shopping cart handle is obviously odd to watch. But I don’t think there’s anything left to be ashamed of.
The thing about the Walmart incident is that it served to be the final straw. For years I’ve watched men enter bathrooms, do their stuff, and leave without washing hands. I’d guess that 60-80% of men DO NOT wash their hands. Just my estimate, by no means correct… at all. But my point is just that when I see a guy wash his hands, it always strikes me as odd.
Now that I’m a dad, this not only disgusts me, but it pisses me off, too. I want to wipe my ass, put the tissue in a ziplock bag, take it out their car, and wipe my stink on their door handles.
Anyway…
That’s my rant for now. Not much else going on. Feels like a lof potentially big things are gaining steam, but nothing right now to account for.
