Dirty Door Handles and the Influenza Virus

That wonderful time of year has descended upon us once again... flu season!

The best way to prevent the spread of influenza and other illnesses, according to the American Medical Association and the Department of Health, is to wash your hands frequently—especially after using the restroom. This has been common knowledge for years and most of us now wash our hands after doing various types of bathroom business. For anyone that doesn’t, please don’t tell me and please don’t shake my hand.

Of course, shaking hands is also a great way to catch a nasty bug. Many among us, including the lovely Mrs. PDXKARAOKEGUY, no longer shake hands when meeting folks. In Latin America and parts of Europe, a kiss on the cheek is often the common form of greeting. While this seems on the surface to be a much quicker way to acquire a contagion, it’s actually a much safer greeting option.

So, to avoid a cold or flu, avoid shaking hands, wash after doing your business and kiss that acquaintance on the cheek.

But

what happens after we wash our hands?

This question has puzzled me ever since I noticed the paper towels leaving my college campus only to be replaced by air drying machines. While on the surface this has less environmental impact (I’m not convinced it does, but that is not the point of this article, nor my area of expertise), it may have a detrimental effect on your health.

Here’s the problem:

I go and do my business in the bathroom. I go to the sink and I’m forced to use my hand to turn on the faucet… there’s no paper towels. I hope for an open stall, and grab a piece of toilet paper and turn the faucet on. If I can’t get to a stall, I have to figure out another option.

I wash my hands dutifully, using soap and warm water and being sure to get under my finger nails. I turn off the water and stick my hand in a dirty jet dryer.

This is fine, I suppose. My hands are dry, clean and warm and toasty. The biggest problem is about the rear its ugly head. How do I get out?

You see, the door opens in. There is no way to use my hip, my elbows or any other non-hand body part to get out. This requires grabbing onto a dirty door handle (I may have washed my hands, but did everyone that grabbed that door handle do the same?), pulling the door open and making my escape. Back in the days when there were paper towels, this was not an issue.

Now, unless I’m in one of the bathrooms with an automatic door opener, I’m shit out of luck. My options become grabbing a dirty door handle, which essentially cancels out my hand washing, grabbing a piece of toilet paper, which may or may not be available, or using my shirt or my own hander kerchief (and since I’m not my grandfather, I don’t generally carry around a handkerchief).

Why can’t I just have paper towels? I’m all for helping the environment and doing my part to reduce waste and my carbon footprint, but I’m also in favor of not getting sick. If you’re not going to provide paper towels, please provide hand sanitizer and make doors that swing out so no hand use is necessary to exit.

That’s all I have to say about that. Seacrest out.

Thanks for Reading.

PDXKaraokeGuy, also known as Justin W. Price, is an author with Sweatshoppe Publications, which will soon re-release his poetry collection, Digging to China. Additionally, the managing editor at eFiction horror and The New Bridge online newspaper.. Husband to Andrea, father to two dogs. writer.poet.baseball fan. tattooed. He is am amateur theologian with a rabid sweet tooth. He resides in a suburb of Portland, Oregon.He has a poetry book available for Amazon Kindle, and also maintains a blog, FirstBlog. His work has been featured in the Crisis Chronicles, efiction Magazine, The Hellroaring Review, the Bellwether Review, eFiction Humor, and the Rusty Nail. Please visit his profile page for more information. Thanks!