01-30-2009, 08:03 AM | #1 (permalink) | |
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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A Little Dirt Never Hurt - Babies Eating Dirt
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My mom worked in a lab when I was growing up. There were chemicals and blood samples around so I was instructed to not touch things, and not to get dirty. Even playing outside I was mostly clean while playing. I didn't get much dirty and to this day I clean myself up after touching things. I don't know much about children that's for sure, but I do understand evolution or at least the logic of it. Skogafoss won't touch the subway rails at all. She thinks them to be to dirty. I think that there isn't much that can actually live on the metal for very long and many studies have shown that true. I used to be very concerned about the idea of hygiene. Today though, I've realized that things are what they are, and the creation of superbugs because of the fastidious antibacterial soap overuse, well... What do you think about dirt? germs? touching handrails? door knobs?
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01-30-2009, 08:26 AM | #2 (permalink) | |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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The only doorknob that concerns me is the one on the inside of public restrooms. According to my own observations, I think only about 20% of men actually wash their hands. Most of them either simply get them wet (an empty gesture) or don't even bother to put on a show of hygiene. I'll be damned if I'm going to wash my hands only to touch that knob, especially just before going to eat my lunch. Between airborne germs and things we touch, I think it's generally good to keep exposed to them on a regular basis. Hiding from them will only cause problems when you eventually do get exposed. That's how immune systems work, as we know. I'm adamantly against antibacterial products, especially handsoap and lotions.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
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01-30-2009, 08:29 AM | #3 (permalink) |
I Confess a Shiver
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I've been to some crappy places on the planet and seen what "too much dirt" does to kids, but this piece here echoes with my general feeling: US is full of a bunch of paranoid germ-freaks. There is a happy medium in hygiene. I figure as long as you take a shower once a day and wash your hands after hitting up the porcelain god... you should be fine. Toilet paper is recommended.
Dial Hand Sanitizer is abused by far too many. Last edited by Plan9; 01-30-2009 at 08:31 AM.. |
01-30-2009, 08:52 AM | #4 (permalink) | |
Tilted
Location: Pepperland
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01-30-2009, 09:04 AM | #7 (permalink) | |
Kick Ass Kunoichi
Location: Oregon
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I work in childcare, so I try to keep "in the know" in regards to the latest trends in handwashing (and yes, there are trends in handwashing). Right now the procedure is to wash your hands with warm water with regular soap. We sing "Happy Birthday" or "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" while washing hands. However, washing your hands too much is NOT a good thing: your hands will dry out, your cuticles will dry out, and if your skin gets too dry, tiny cracks will open up in the skin of your hands, giving bacteria an opening. The trick, as Crompsin suggested, is to find that happy medium. I usually wash my hands before prepping food, after using the toilet (and I double-wash, per food safety procedure, should I take a toilet break in the midst of making dinner), and after changing a diaper. I use hand sanitizer if I cough or sneeze on my hand or if I have to wipe a runny nose. If I get gunk on my hands, I wash 'em. Otherwise I don't worry about it, and just refer to one of my mother's many maxims: "A little dirt don't hurt."
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
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01-30-2009, 09:14 AM | #8 (permalink) |
Junkie
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I don't worry about dirt too much. When I'm handling raw meat I am really good about washing my hands. With the bathroom, if I only urinated I probably don't wash my hands. My hands didn't get anything on them and honestly, how bad can the bacteria on your cock be if you are going to ask your S/O to put it in her mouth?
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01-30-2009, 12:19 PM | #9 (permalink) |
Insane
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I believe handwashing is what keeps me relatively healthy year after year. I don't wash excessively but I do wash enough to make a difference. I have an immune system for a reason and every now and then like to take it for a spin by exposing it to whatever my town has for it.
On a side note, if one is eating a lot of dirt it is usually indicative of a vitamin deficiency. Random piece of knowledge for you.
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01-30-2009, 04:39 PM | #10 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Chicago
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There are people whose immune systems are so compromised that they need to worry about germs as much as possible.
The rest of us need to quit being so damn paranoid at every little thing. How can your body build up immunities if it's never exposed to anything? I also understand that munching a little carpet is good for your health, too.
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01-30-2009, 07:17 PM | #12 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Dirty.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot |
01-30-2009, 07:38 PM | #13 (permalink) |
With a mustache, the cool factor would be too much
Location: left side of my couch, East Texas
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I saw a piece on eating dirt on one of the educational channels. Pretty interesting.
Went looking on Google and found this... Geophagy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I'm not adventurous enough to eat dirt or clay by themselves now, but seeing as how they've been incorporated into some of our society's products doesn't freak me out as it once would have.
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01-31-2009, 08:11 AM | #14 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Louisville, KY
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I'm in the, "Dirt don't hurt" camp. Of course I was my hands when I've handled meat, or gone to the bathroom, or shaken a lot of hands. But by and large, I figure it's good to let my immune system get some practice on little germs. I'm a pretty easy going gal, it's just in keeping with my general attitude.
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02-01-2009, 12:53 AM | #15 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: My head.
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This is all full of bull!! People, DIRT HURTS!!!!!!!
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Yes, play barefoot in the dirt, but please please please, make the kids wash before eating. Ingestion of these things will sometimes be uncontrollable but exposure to them only once is enough to build a proper immune system. |
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02-01-2009, 06:35 AM | #16 (permalink) | |
Psycho
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At home, I was my hands frequently while cooking, after toileting, before eating and when visibly soiled. I use a basic foam soap solution of Ivory hand soap which I cut with 2/3 water so I can use it as a foam soap which I prefer. It makes the soap last longer, saves money and I find the antibacterial products unnecessary.
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02-01-2009, 04:40 PM | #17 (permalink) |
Leaning against the -Sun-
Super Moderator
Location: on the other side
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I am generally quite healthy and I'm not obsessed with cleanliness. When I am working in my studio, I get pretty dirty from head to toe. Often I don't think twice about grabbing a bite to eat after an exhausting afternoon grappling with my canvases, paint and other materials. I also kiss my cats. I'm a dirty girl. But I wash every day and always when I use the bathroom. Good enough? A little dirt is good.
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Whether we write or speak or do but look We are ever unapparent. What we are Cannot be transfused into word or book. Our soul from us is infinitely far. However much we give our thoughts the will To be our soul and gesture it abroad, Our hearts are incommunicable still. In what we show ourselves we are ignored. The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged By any skill of thought or trick of seeming. Unto our very selves we are abridged When we would utter to our thought our being. We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams, And each to each other dreams of others' dreams. Fernando Pessoa, 1918 |
02-01-2009, 05:57 PM | #18 (permalink) |
Eat your vegetables
Super Moderator
Location: Arabidopsis-ville
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Fascinating. Thank you for sharing, Cyn.
I don't touch handrails when they are sticky or frozen or some other aspect of their texture or temperature bothers me in some way. Germs are not frequently on my mind. When I was a child I would regularly suck on coins and keys - anything that people held and could not be destroyed by saliva. I thought they tasted delicious. I dropped the habit sometime in the fifth grade when a friend saw me sucking on a penny and thought it odd. I do respect others' germiphobia: I do avoid shaking people's hands when I have a cold. I do wash my hands frequently when I am ill to avoid passing along contamination. I do not share glasses or double-dip food. I have friends and relatives with auto-immune disorders. For this reason, I was raised to be cautious of others' hygeine needs.
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"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq "violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy Last edited by genuinegirly; 02-01-2009 at 06:03 PM.. |
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babies, dirt, eating, hurt |
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