PLEASE! for the sake of basic hygiene and manners

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amother

Jade

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 8:52 am

amother wrote:

I think people are not understanding the role of "germs" in sickness and expect a perfect one to one causation.

Your child will not get sick immediately and every time they eat something from the floor but the odds are that they will ingest some kind of organism that will cause them to be sick. I can't even understand this thinking - would you serve your child food on the bottom of your shoe? If you wouldn't do that, why in the world would you serve them food that has essentially been in contact with the same organisms and shmootz that are on the bottom of your shoe?

How do you know how and where your child picks up a disease. People do get food poisoning and other stomach ailments caused by ingesting germs many times during the year but they aren't aware of it being caused by tainted food.

And trusting that other people aren't carrying diseases because you can't tell immediately? People are contagious without showing symptoms and some people are contagious ALL THE TIME - Typhoid Mary was a real person who eventually had to be thrown in prison because she continued to cook for people and was asymptomatic of the disease.

Most colds (I.e. upper respirator infections) are caused by your hands making contact with the virus and transmitting it by your touching your face with your hands which is why washing hands as often as possible WITH SOAP is the best means of preventing a cold.

Frankly some posters sounds as if they are from a time before the discovery of modern hygiene and "germ theory" and want to remain willfully ignorant of good hygiene. Almost more than anything else, providing clean water and toilet facilities that carry waste away are responsible for saving people's lives throughout the world and some people on this thread seem to be defending hygiene that might act as a means to infect and/or expose others to body waste and fluids. Are you really sure that a child is wiping and washing and that there aren't any unseen bits of fecal material on that communal towel?

Without soap, you are simply not cleaning your hands in a manner necessary to remove potential germs. And I wouldn't trust my own child's unsupervised washing and drying habits in terms of wanting to use a towel they have used let alone unseen other people. It's one thing to expose yourself to your child's feces etc. knowingly because most people would then carefully and immediately wash their hands to avoid contaminating themselves and their surroundings but theoretically you don't know what kind of c*rap (pun intended) is on towels and other people's hands.

Either extreme is no good. Frequently scrubbing your hands clean eliminates the good bacteria that keep germs at bay. Avoiding germs at all costs weakens the immune system or doesn't it allow it to fully develop. Like everything in life, a happy medium is your best bet (excluding the time when there is a dangerous outbreak in your area).

amother

Tangerine

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 8:59 am

seeker wrote:

I dunno about separate paper towels - I think of it as a nice touch but above basic. However I do not understand the lack of soap. If it was one family then I would not even mention it in a public forum but I have seen numerous homes without soap by the bathroom sink, and the dish soap is in a large family-size regular bottle so I assume I'm the only one bothering to use that for my hands every time they need washing. I just don't get why otherwise normal, healthy people are living this way.

Soap by the bathroom sink, yes. OP says she needs it in the kitchen. Big difference.

amother

Burgundy

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 9:20 am

Raisin wrote:

You are actually wrong. It might seem strange, but being exposed to things like dog poo and eating things that fell on the floor is actually healthier for people in the long run.

http://www.bbc.com/future/stor.....clean

Somebody who always has hand soap on hand but not separate towels. Finicky people are welcome to take a tissue or new towel to dry their hands. I put out 2 clean towels before friday night meal for people to dry hands on.

The article says not to share brand towels. It also doesn't advocate eating off the floor. It says that the mother should suck on the pacifier first if it falls on the floor. That is also disgusting.

amother

Amber

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 9:53 am

Op- are you actually saying that providing 15 SEPERATE hand towels for my yom tov day meal company falls under the “basic hygiene” category? What circles do you run in? Cuz let me tell you...down here in real life land, no one does that.

Ema of 5

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 9:56 am

amother wrote:

If you're a host, can you please offer separate paper towels to each guest or separate hand towels to each person you host? Sometimes I want to bring, but it would insult the host. Also please don't stick your own fork or spoon into the serving platter, even if you just touch your piece. It's disgusting. And can everyone wash their hands with soap before eating? If you're a host, please keep liquid soap in the kitchen, I don't understand how people don't have soap in their kitchens. How do you wash your hands before preparing the food and cooking?

I keep liquid dish soap in my kitchen, and that’s what I wash my hands with. I don’t have separate hand towels for everyone or even separate paper towels, because when hosting 20+ people per meal, that gets way too expensive. I’m with you on serving pieces though. I always make sure that every dish has its own serving piece before it goes out of the kitchen.

amother

Blush

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 10:07 am

If you don't want to spring for the cost of actual paper hand towels which are a bit more elegant - PUT IN PAPER TOWELS.

Are people actually claiming they can't afford a roll of paper towels so people have something hygienic to use in the bathroom?

I find that to be a ridiculous argument.

And regarding the claim that children should be exposed to shmootz, no one is saying people should be OCD about hygiene because in the normal course of life children and people are going to be exposed to germs. The issue is whether you try to take normal precautions like washing hands with soap often or not deliberately exposing people potentially to bodily wastes on towels or feeding children from the floor. If you found a cookie on the floor would you feed it to your child or eat it yourself? That's no different than eating food fallen on the floor. And most people carry wipes with them so how hard is it to wipe off the pacifier if away from home or wash under the sink if home?

amother

Burgundy

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 10:07 am

amother wrote:

IRL land, no one but frum Jews asks 15 guests, many whom don't use soap, to dry their hands on one hand towel. Health Education is not taught in schools nor practiced in homes.

I just grin and bear it when people don't wash their hands with soap in my house after toileting. Why the need to do this in my kitchen is beyond me. We provide separate sink outside the toilet.

amother

Blush

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 10:57 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Nobodys coming into MY house with dog poo. My kid once stepped in cat poo, and I took of his sneakers before he walked into the house and threw them in the garbage outside the house. Then I sent him with my husband to buy new sneakers.

You might not be aware of small amounts of contaminated stuff that is being brought into your home on the soles of shoes in the normal course of things.

For example, a dog poops and the owner picks up the deposit. However, they are not scrubbing down the sidewalk so that small amounts of fecal matter will remain on the sidewalk. People walk on the sidewalks and their soles will then pick up whatever is on the sidewalks and bring them into your house. Which is why most people don't make it a practice to eat from floors - most of the time you will not get sick by doing so but that doesn't mean that it is not potentially a dangerous source of germs.

Iymnok

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:04 am

Gets are good for the immune system. FWIW, my kids usually do not wash their hands and will eat things that fell on the floor. I am very chill about it. They rarely get more than a cold, if that.
I wash my floors once a week, erev shabbos.
If your child is not immunocomprised, it’s healthier to let them encounter some germs.
I’ve seen babies licking the floor, both inside and outside. It’s the flower beds and beaches that really bother me.

amother

Seashell

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:36 am

amother wrote:

Paper Towels- I mentioned it earlier.

amother

Seashell

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:37 am

amother wrote:

Soap by the bathroom sink, yes. OP says she needs it in the kitchen. Big difference.

Of course you need soap in the kitchen. Otherwise I assume you never wash your hands before preparing food.

amother

Wine

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:41 am

For those people who are so grossed out at the idea of using the same hand towel as other people....why are you not grossed out at touching the same serving platter, pitcher, etc?
There are so many diseases and germs that can be spread via simple contact like that

amother

Seashell

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:42 am

There's a difference between washing your hands every 15 minutes and washing your hands before you eat and after you use the bathroom or when they're dirty. It's not OCD. It's basic hygiene. I'm surprised so many haven't heard of it. Ask anyone who works in a hospital or doctors or dentists office what basic hygiene entails. Here's a link about hand washing and how to do it properly because most people don't know how either. https://www.cdc.gov/handwashin......html

amother

Rose

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:42 am

amother wrote:

Paper Towels- I mentioned it earlier.

Practically speaking, it cannot really happen. There were 17 people in my house for a 2 day yomtov. Four meals... and where exactly am I keeping around 75 pieces of cut paper towels??? Do you think they won’t get wet from all the drippy hands reaching for a paper towel?? Who does that? I’m happy to provide a couple of fresh towels each time we wash.

amother

Seashell

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:43 am

amother wrote:

If everyone washed their hands with soap properly, you wouldn't have to worry about them touching the same serving platter unless they were sick or blew their nose in between.

Amarante

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:48 am

amother wrote:

That is precisely why civilized people wash their hands with soap before sitting down to eat and possibly contaminating food eaten by others at the table.

And it is also why civilized people wash their hands with soap after toileting themselves.

Amarante

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:50 am

amother wrote:

Of course you need soap in the kitchen. Otherwise I assume you never wash your hands before preparing food.

It might be semantics. I don't have hand soap in the kitchen because I wash my hands with my dishwashing liquid soap. My soap has a dispenser next to the faucet.

Raisin

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:51 am

amother wrote:

Of course you need soap in the kitchen. Otherwise I assume you never wash your hands before preparing food.

In catering kitchens health and safety standards demand that there should be a separate washing hands sink. (literally no idea why) So perhaps some people see it as more hygenic to wash hands in the bathroom sink before prepping food.

amother

Wine

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:52 am

amother wrote:

If everyone washed their hands with soap properly, you wouldn't have to worry about them touching the same serving platter unless they were sick or blew their nose in between.

So youre saying that as long as people wash their hands with soap then its not gross to use the same towel. Thats not what OP is saying. She (and others) are grossed out by people using the same towel. I want to know what the difference is between a towel and a pitcher.

ETA I see ur OP. Ok...

WhatFor

Wed, Oct 03 2018, 11:52 am

amother wrote:

This is also why we leave our shoes at the front door and don't track dirt all over the house.

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