happy holidays minus the chicken feet

I never gave this any thought before but I recently had someone comment on chicken feet. She said she couldn't eat them because they were feet, which meant they had been on the ground, and it didn't matter how clean the feet got after washing them, they were still feet. I can't believe I never thought about that but then again I don't eat chicken feet.

watch before you go holiday shopping

Be sure to watch this informative clip before you go holiday shopping this season!

DIRTY SHOPPING SPOTS

fact

"Office desks have 400 times more bacteria than toilet seats. So be safe and eat your lunch on a toilet instead of at your desk." - one of the facts listed in 1001 Facts That Will Scare the Sh!t Out of You.

lack of nailclipper

D: I know a guy who doesn't own a nail clipper. He just bites his nails. I'm not sure what he does about his toes...

contagion

My friend said that the new movie, Contagion, was filmed through my eyes. :) I hope people watch this and really THINK. I've been saying this stuff for years!!

public transportation

I rarely take public transportation, but when I do, there is usually someone coughing behind me. Is that just the nature of public transportation, or do I have a big sign on my back that says "I'm a germaphobe. Cough, sneeze, or do something disgusting behind me?"

backsplash

How dirty is the backsplash from the toilet...?

smart kid

While I was at dinner, I overheard a bit of the conversation at the next table. A child about nine years old or so was flapping his hands around complaining about germs. His mother told him, "You need to have some germs on your hands. Your body needs it." Lies! How dare she tell him lies! :) Good for the kid; not many are so intelligent at such a young age.

a whole pie

Basic courtesy: don't touch my slice of pizza! What gives you the right to expose my slice with the bacteria on your hands!

edamame contamination

I really hope that empty edamame shell in my bowl full of uneaten edamame was not actually someone's spit-out shell...

swapping spit part deux

I'm perfectly fine sharing food with someone whom I swap spit.

swapping spit

My nightmare came true. Someone bit into her potsticker, dipped it in sauce, then stuck the other half in my mouth. I didn't know whether to spit, cry, or both.

mile high club

Obviously people are not thinking about how digustingly dirty airplane bathrooms (or any bathroom for that matter) are when they go and do the deed! I'm talking about sex, not number one or two. Really? The sink counter? Butt pressed against the wall? Sick and not in a good way.

Please do not use your saliva and germ-laden utensil or fingers to touch my food. Thank you.

nail shops

The worst thing to observe in a nail shop is when the employees cough into their hands as they're working on a client's nails.. and/or when that same employee doesn't wash her hands when she switches to a new client.. Seriously? I don't want someone else's toe juice on me! They should make sure they clean everything thoroughly so as to reduce the rates of infections and spread of bacteria..

the bar scene

I stood next to the bar and watched the bartender do his thing.. so now comes my report. DISGUSTING, A NIGHTMARE. He touches EVERYTHING and never washes his hands. Let me begin the list: money, your straws, the limes, the lemons, the ice, the glasses... it's a huge germ fest at the bar.

beer pong

Beer pong in itself is not so bad but the germs and bacteria involved in that game make me sick. Dirty hands touch the balls that get bounced into the cups. The balls drop on the ground and roll around until dirty hands find them again. Then dirty balls get bounced back into the cups, and from those cups people drink beer. Disgusting. All this could be resolved if people just set aside cups of untouched beers to drink..

free condom?

While I was out at dinner, I reached for my cloth napkin and was surprised to find a gift underneath it. I held it for at least ten seconds trying to figure it out because I initially thought it was a hand wipe. I was wrong. It was a condom. I hope it was just a joke because I would hate to think that the person folding my napkin or setting up my table was getting busy right before s/he touched my napkin.

foul play

A few years ago I hired a landscaper and his team to come and redo my backyard. He hired someone to come and fill in the concrete. While I was enjoying some quiet time at home, my doorbell rang. I later found out the man was the person who brought the concrete mix. He asked to use my bathroom. I should have known better than to let him in, but I did anyway. To my horror he started ripping it up in my bathroom. He had major diarrhea as evidenced by the loud, explosive sounds coming from the bathroom. He was in there for at least fifteen minutes. It was disgusting. When he left I didn't know what to do. I didn't go into the bathroom for a long time after he left, and when I finally felt brave enough to do so, I saw that he left me many presents all over the toilet seat... That was so foul.

unattended samples

I will never eat unattended samples. Store employees should have some standards in how they handle food but you just never know how the customers have fondled these samples. Just thinking about this makes my stomach churn. Think about that the next time you eat an unattended sample:

bacteria on BART, no surprise

Drug-resistant strain of bacteria on BART seats? Yuck!

good week

A whole week has passed without me witnessing any serious germ violations!

don't touch my coat

This has probably happened to you before - at a restaurant you drape your jacket around your chair, and someone just has to touch it as they walk by. WHY?! I don't like it when people touch my jacket with their filthy hands!

hands

Hands, probably one of the worst culprits in the transferring of bacteria and germs. It always digusts me to observe people using their hands to touch community food, i.e. break apart food in half and then put the other half back on the shared plate. Just take the item and don't put it back on the plate! Then others actually eat the piece that's been touched by somebody else! Oh.. it's also disgusting when people sort through the community food with their hands until they settle on a piece of food they want. PEOPLE! That's terrible!!! Many of these offenders, the ones who touch other's food, haven't washed their hands prior to touching the food. They've touched door handles, their keyboards, etc. I still eat in restaurants where I know chefs are touching my food, but out of sight, out of mind in that realm. At least I would hope the chefs have washed their hands before preparing my food...

adherence to the code

While waiting to be seated at dinner, I observed a woman with a bottle of medium-sized hand sanitizer making everyone in her party clean their hands. While I am not a believer of hand sanitizer (because I need to wash off germs and bacteria as opposed to having the germs and bacteria disappear into thin air), I am truly appreciative of her efforts. I love what this world is coming to. People do seem to be more germ-aware and beginning to adhere to the code.

personal-sized hand sanitizers

For every ten violations on the street, I usually have one good sighting, like this woman who wears her personal-sized hand sanitizer like a fashion statement. You go girl.

a common violation

This is a common violation at restaurants: placing utensils directly on the table. That's so dirty!!!

card game

I was playing a card game when I noticed that one of the players was cleaning his ears with his finger. He was really going at it for AT LEAST thirty seconds. Those were the longest thirty seconds of my life. I made sure to run straight to the bathroom to wash my hands thoroughly after the game.

observation of the day

I watched someone play with the bottom of her shoes while interchangeably eating with her hands. Gag.

cover when you cough instructions

bathroom wastebaskets

To every public place that has wastebaskets by the door for us to throw our paper towels away as we leave the bathroom: THANK YOU!!

hand-shaking

I don't like shaking hands with people and would much prefer a fist bump. People's hands are so dirty and one of the biggest culprits to passing on germs and bacteria. After witnessing so many people playing with their feet in public, I especially hate hand-shaking.

that extra flavor

It makes my stomach churn when I see people eat food that had fallen on the ground or a public table...

potlucks

Potlucks are a germaphobe's nightmare. Some people have no qualms grabbing community/shared food with their fingers. People sneeze and breathe into the food. I guess potlucks are not too much different than a buffet but some potlucks don't have enough serving utensils so the chances of people grabbing food with their fingers are high AND potlucks don't have sneeze guards to protect me from the coughing and sneezing of others. At least buffets have the illusion of a sneeze guard to help me sleep easier at night. Two of the worst things I ever witnessed at a potluck had to do with toes and hands. In one incident, I watched someone massage her bare feet with her hands and then reach into a bag of chips. At another potluck someone had dumped out a bag of chips into a bowl. After the potluck, she proceeded to grab the chips in the bowl and put them back into the bag, handful by handful. She then brought this bag of chips for a second potluck... Lesson: Never eat from an opened bag of chips that you haven't been watching like a hawk.

restaurant dos and donts

Don't leave utensils and a stack of plates on the table for customers to help themselves to. It's pretty disgusting to imagine that the previous ten people who sat at the same table you did touched the plates and utensils too... or maybe even inadvertently (or purposively!) spat on it.

Do make sure to put toilet paper in the dispenser! It's always so disgusting to see the toilet paper rolling around on the bathroom floor or sitting somewhere inside a stall, like on top of the dispenser, so that everyone's filthy hands have touched the entire roll. Maybe I should starting bringing my own toilet paper..

shoes inside the house

I know a lot of people don't care if people wear their shoes inside the house.. but WHY?? Shoes drag in so many disgusting things.

buffets

I like buffets as long as people follow buffet etiquette, and if I see someone violating buffet etiquette, I avoid those select items. If you're wondering what buffet etiquette is, most signs read: Don't eat in line. Don't ever touch food with hands while in the buffet line. Always take a new fresh plate when going back for more.

That pretty much sums it up. I very clearly remember an experience at the buffet where I heard a man scream, "Get your goddamn fingers out of the food!!!!!" I looked up to see an older woman sheepishly pulling her fingers out of a dish. That was SO NASTY.

getting arrested

I would never want to get arrested. As I was driving by an arrest being made over the weekend, I saw that the police had the guy on the ground. That is so disgusting. The ground is filthy; the bottom of people's shoes are so dirty and transport so much bacteria. I don't even want to imagine what it would feel like having to lie face down on the ground.

street foods

There are so many reasons why I would not buy food from a street vendor but the biggest reason is because there is no where in that vendor's booth for him/her to wash his/her hands, and that makes me very nervous.

wash your hands

I'm not the only one who has people wash their hands when they first come into my home! Granted, the other person who does it has a toddler in the home..

I feel much better when people wash their hands first. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they're leaving outside germs/bacteria at the doorstep (or I guess, down the drain).

interview with a germaphobe

After discovering that a fellow germaphobe had committed a germaphobe code violation, I conducted a one-question interview with him by asking him how he became the germaphobe that he is.

His response: "I used to get sick a lot and I used to wonder why. Ever since I became more mindful I rarely get sick. After those humble beginnings I evolved into what I am today, which is someone who is almost hypersensitive to displays of bad germ etiquette. When people cough in my direction, I momentarily hold my breath."

While I didn't become this way due to frequent illness, I have noticed that I get sick a lot less since I also became hyperaware of those committing germ violations all around me and then avoiding them.

resolution

My New Year's Resolution is to continue to spread the gospel about germs and how we can all play a role in helping others with proper germ etiquette. Please remember to wash your hands with soap for at least twenty seconds before you eat!

2011

Wishing you all a New Year full of good hygiene, proper germ etiquette, and cleanliness! May you continue sneezing and coughing into the inside of your elbow and washing your hands with soap for a full 20 seconds!