Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 09, 2019

Use a hand sanitizer after you open the door.

Either have paper towels or make the door a “push”.

Rat, if every device is automatic in that restroom, suggest the owner install an automatic door also.

Or easier, open the door with a kick to avoid using your hands.

Rat, skip the intermediary limbs. Use your mouth to open the door – it’s conditioned for the filth with all of the stuff that you spew out of it.

Some agree so much that they DON’T wash their hands AT ALL, so all you can do is hope that the knob/handle is brass (germs really do have a hard time spreading on brass, so long as it’s cleaned at reasonable intervals).

At least in theory, all people pulling the bathroom door open have clean hands.

Studies on this very thing have shown that the cleanest place in the restroom is the handle on the door. But then, it’s still a restroom.

Once you get past the smell everything else seems rather trivial.

You are out of ideas Steve

For once, rat has a good point.

But I was expecting this to go a different direction- ever been in one of those rooms, somewhere in the process of wash-up…and the power goes out? Water won’t run, soap won’t dispense, neither will towels….and you can’t see, anyway.

Lazy Rat just wash your paws ……. Croc Power !

Cleaning companies need to emphasize washing the door handles on restrooms frequently.

Grab a paper towel or piece of toilet paper to insulate your hand from the door handle. Learned that from my dad in the 50’s

I take a paper towel (or toilet paper if there are no paper towels) and open the door with THAT.

And that is assuming those devices work properly.

Hey, if it bothers you that much, carry a pair or two of rubber gloves … they fit in a matchbox.

Of course, it it bothers you that much, don’t think about all those people who have touched your chair, your table, your linens and silverware, your glass. Don’t imagine the where the ice sits and how it is handled. For god’s sake (small “g”) ignore the kitchen and food storage methods.

ANd don’t get me started on grocery store produce sections!

When I was a kid, I ate anything remotely edible I found growing wild, ran barefoot, and eagerly shook hands with people I met.

If the door is push to exit, then rat will have it made.

Along that same vein are the wipes you see in stores for “sanitizing” the handle of the shopping cart so you don’t get cooties from the last person to touch it. But then you handle everything in the store, none of which has been “sanitized,” so what good does wiping down the handle do?

In the absence of paper towels and with a door that opens inward (Most do for safety, just like a hallway in a home), I ask the waitress for extra napkins and take those with me. Or I usually grab 2 or 3 of those paper things you are supposed to cover the toilet seat with and use those.

Paging Sheldon Cooper…….

I agree with Rat…the rest room door handle is undoubtedly covered with a mass of disgusting bacteria, negating any hand washing you had done previously.

Why do you people pee and sh*t on your hands, how gross.

You’re supposed to open the door with your nose.

They don’t has foot or arm pulls? Last I looked they were fairly common.

oh, the temptation to say, “wash your hands, you filthy bastard” to those who do not.but things seem to escalate quickly from there.

Well, I’m 65 and I’ve never gotten sick from a restroom door, or a shopping cart, or even the handrails on a city bus. And, by the way, germs and bacteria are EVERYWHERE, so deal with it. Yes, wash your hands, and use the paper towels to open the door if you like, but you are STILL gonna be surrounded by teeny tiny little critters no matter WHAT you do. That’s why we evolved an immune system…

Rat has a filthy mind in a way that was never imagined!

He’s touched on an issue of vital concern!

Hey RAT! At work, we have automatic toilets that flush, but it’s the door…have to pull to open…! Have to agree!

So bathrooms need an automatic door. Heck, could use an automatic zipper too.

My gym has a liquid hand sanitizer station just outside the bathroom door.

Use a paper towel to open the door.

You got to love the irony of a rat worried about sanitary conditions.

One of the supermarkets in my town has had all that for over a decade now. They even have the urinals that flushes automatically after taking a whiz

I was sitting in a ferry terminal and I overheard a young lady actually bragging about how she uses public washrooms but never washes her hands , her reason being that she doesn’t like touching other people’s germs. Just as I was making the face of “and what makes your germs so special that I get to share with you” she finishes up by mentioning she also won’t flush either in a public toilet so she doesn’t have to touch the toilet handle (not the auto flushers either, some poor passenger or janitor gets to flush later…ugh). Special place in he11 for that nasty creature… !

What does Rat have a tail for anyway?

Hard to dry your face with those air blowers.. and heavens.. don’t ever try to dry your baby under one.

It is true, all restroom doors seem to open into the restroom. Anyone know why?

Some doors now have a J-shaped handle one can pull open with a crooked elbow.

It’s pretty bad when the water is automated but the soap isn’t

Indeed, why can’t restroom doors be automated like on Star Trek?

And, when I go pee, I have to grab my …

Its good to challenge your immune system every now and then. Keeps it strong and healthy.

I challenged mine to a duel once. Got sick as a dog. Good thing it wasn’t a duel to the death.

Tell me about it! I once stood by the bathroom door for 5 minutes waiting for someone else to come along and open it…

All our washrooms have automatic doors.

Most places have towels available and I always use a towel if possible. Bottom line is more than likely the handle on the door is the cleanest place in the bathroom because of all the towels that are used to open it. Kind of a nowadays thing because people are worried about it.

Open the door with your pinky, numbskull.

I thought only employees had to wash their hands : )

Use paper to open the door if it’s available and drop it in the trash can on your way out. Or just do your best and use a wet wipe or gel on your hands later. I always carry a pack in my purse or jacket pocket.

Rat, I feel your pain. I keep a bandanna in my purse or pocket for drying (hate blowers) and for opening the door. Of course, Rat is naked, but he could wear the bandanna around his neck.

If people use that touchfree soap and water to thoroughly clean their hands, then it wouldn’t be an issue touching the door. But…

I’m just shocked that a filthy animal like Rat thinks so much about hygeine.

There’s an old story about two gentlemen at a college football game encountering each other in the stadium restroom. One was an X fan, the other an X State supporter, obviously arch-rivals. Both used the stand up facility. The X fan finished first started to stroll out the door. The X State fan yelled derisively, “Didn’t the teach you to wash your hands afterwards at that cow college?” The X fan replied with a grin, “No, they taught us how to take a **** without getting it all over our hands.” You may insert the rival colleges or universities of your choice, with my full and unrestricted permission.

https://youtu.be/kftAQRl85Gs?t=58

I’m with Rat. There are four solutions:

1: (simplest) — just don’t wash your hands. No loss.

2: (hardest) — just prop the door open when you come in. There’s usually a “Piso Mojado” sign near the restroom door. Using it deters other people from coming in.

3: (only if they’re available) — use a paper towel to open the door. When leaving, throw the towel as near the trash can as you can reach with the door resting against your shoe. (Note also the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Universe solution)

4: (most dangerous) — Use the women’s room: They actually wash their hands.

PS: Those air dryers turn out to be excellent at the job of spreading disease germs into the air. I avoid them if possible.

Rat has touched (so to speak!) upon a sore point. Especially if using the restroom in a rest stop along an interstate, I try to avoid having to touch the door after washing my hands; that’s what the paper towels are good for (if there are any)!

A couple places have motion-activated door openers as well. Shame it hasn’t caught on. (Granted, $$$.)

If everyone washes their hands, how could the door handle be dirty?

I’ve often remembered with majestic pride all the jobs I have personally created by dumping papers next to the opened public toilet doors with handles on them, of course sometimes sleeves are necessary (better than touching toilet paper).

Cannot tolerate the hand dryer machines. Some of them sound like jet engines.

Automatic flush, automatic faucet, automatic dryer, manual toilet seat.