On March 3, I went to the men’s room. Hardly unusual. The weird bit is what I found in the stall — an open can of Best Choice Pink Lemonade. In the stall. Just, sitting on the toilet roll dispenser.
What the hell.
Having grown up using a different bathroom, the men’s room was an adjustment. I know that the floor will never be clean. The weird, cushy chairs in the antechamber are a sacrifice I made willingly. Conversation is near non-existent, with the occasional outlier. I’ve accepted (or rather, learned to ignore) the wide range of graffiti found in stalls, up to and including Nazi symbolism. I learned to live with the fact that the reminders to wash your hands are both more necessary and less effective. This lemonade? The last straw. How many airborne germs got on that can before I got there? Was someone planning to come back for it? Why pink lemonade, of all things? It doesn’t even have caffeine.
The recent surge of COVID-19 has brought to light the disparity in hygiene practices between the men’s and women’s restrooms. Many men on Twitter have expressed shock to see a queue for the sinks for the first time. This, in turn, brought about statements of disbelief from the other side of the stalls. This expansion of the discussion brought further testimony, though an unfortunate amount was in negation of handwashing.
A 2013 study from Michigan State University found that, “Women wash their hands significantly more often, use soap more often, and wash their hands somewhat longer than men.” The MSU field study was conducted by research assistants who observed nearly 4,000 people in restrooms around East Lansing.
“The study found 14.6% of men did not wash their hands at all after using the bathroom and 35.1% wet their hands but did not use soap, compared to 7.1% and 15.1% of women.”
If your childhood guardian failed you and never taught you to wash your hands, the CDC has a “handy” guide.
This is just a couple clicks away from the science behind why you need to wash your hands. No, it doesn’t matter if you only peed, guys. You still need to wash up. The CDC links research stating that using soap and water to wash hands could reduce deaths associated with diarrheal disease by up to 50%, and a quick search of perianal sweat should cure you of several arguments against hand washing.
Categories: Opinion
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