Howie Mandel may have something with his “fist bump” mentality. Touching other people can be freaky, especially if you don’t know where they (or their hands) have been.
Web Watch knows quite a few people who still refuse to wash their hands after using the restroom, sad but true. And we certainly hate being introduced to someone immediately after they obviously return from the restroom, as that initial slightly damp didn’t-quite-finish-drying-my-hands handshake is always a bit icky. We cringe now even thinking about it.
But enough about the germs on people. What about the germs that people leave behind that reside on everyday surfaces that we all touch throughout our travels? Here are some of THE MOST GERM-FILLED SURFACES that you may encounter:
- 71% of all gas pump handles
- 68% public mailbox handles
- 43% escalator handrails
- 41% ATM buttons (Web Watch knows someone who only uses the end of a pen that they pull from their purse, specifically for this purpose. Of course, they’re not thinking about what happens when they subsequently put that same pen in their mouth later when they get back to the office)
- 40% parking meters
- 35% crosswalk and vending machine buttons
You know those handy soap dispensers in public bathrooms? The good news is that there are a lot of people who use them. The bad news is that when they use them, they leave a little something behind. 25% of tested soap dispensers contained fecal bacteria.
It gets worse if you’re a frequent flyer.
Airplane restrooms may or may not be swished between flights, and might go all day long without a decent scrubbing. 100% of airplane bathrooms that were tested had E. coli bacteria on the faucets and door handle.