Why do people who go into restrooms and go to the bathroom and then walk out without washing their hands?

Question

I see this all the time especially at restaurants. It is disgusting. You mean to tell me your going to go to the bathroom, grab that dirty door handle and then go eat?

Call me OCD but I like being clean. I ALWAYS Wash my hands whether I'm at home or in a restaurant. And when I leave the restroom at the restaurant I make sure I have a paper towel with me to grab that handle. I also carry around the waterless hand cleanser (Purell).

I guess that's why I never get sick. It's August and I haven't had a cold yet this year (knock wood).

Just a simple survey:

Gender:

Age:

When you go to the bathroom (whether at home or out), do you wash your hands when you are done and why or why not?

Answer 1

I don't know why people do that but some women don't do it either; that is gross. I usually don't think to open the restroom door at a restaurant with a paper towel but sometimes I do. I was raised to wash my hands before I eat and after I use the restroom and maybe they were not.

Female

49  

Answer 2

I try hard not to use the bathrooms when we are out, but when we do I don't like using their dirty sinks. I would rather wait until I have come out and stop right there near the door and pull out my hand sanitizer or our wipes. At home we always wash our hands.  

Answer 3

Gender: F... age:  Not polite to ask a lady her age!

As for bathroom etiquette, it is always best to wash one's hands just prior to exiting the restroom.  It is also a sign of great restraint to not express one's dissatisfaction with those who do not when they exit ... i.e. a scrunched up face followed by a loud, expressive, "EEEWWWW, GROSS!"

However, this "OCD," as you put it, is tremendously overstated by society today.  We are becoming germ-o-phobic for no real reason.  Please take, for instance, this listing of 10 common, everyday places that have been found to have MORE BACTERIA on them than a toilet seat:

--Phone receiver

--door k**b

--desktop

--computer keyboard

--escalator handrail

--elevator button

--ATM buttons

--shopping cart handles

--kitchen sink

--subway turnstiles

Mind you, these are surfaces containing MORE germs than the average household toilet seat!!!

Your best defense is not to worry about the other person's behavior, you cannot control that.  You only can control your OWN behavior.  So wash as needed, but please, don't go overboard, freaky on us!

Have a polite day.

Answer 4

because we are lazy and realise that it probably wont have much affect apart from keeping people happy regarding old fashioned manners etc

Answer 5

gender- female

age-15

i wash my hands for 3 reasons:

1. to prevent germs

2. so my hands arent dirty or sticky

3. im in the habit since I could walk

Answer 6

I thought I was the only one... just after drying my hands I also grab an extra paper towel, open the door with it and then throw it in the trash as my foot lets me out the door. Common sense I thought... why wash and then cross contaminate?   43

Answer 7

female

early 20's

yes its gross not to wash your hands.

i get so creeped out when people dont

Answer 8

Male

fifth decade

yes

I got dysentery when I was in Korea.

Answer 9

If I p**p I wash my hands

If I pee and dont touch my junk too much I usually just pass my hands under water just because habbit i guess.

honestly if you are going to wash you hands and then just go touch the germ infested doorknob then whats the point. My s*****g has been in my pants all day so its not like its dirty and I am personally clean of STDS... so explain to me the point of washing my hands after I touch the cleanest part of my body?

you know my age and s*x already

lol

Answer 10

I think it is lack of home training.  It is a learned behavior, and I guess some people did not learn this at home.  Disgusting isn't it?

Answer 11

When we have to clean our hands if we really want to keep us clean:

--Before eating whatever you use toilet or not.

--After touching bills for payment

--After using toilet

--After using cell phone or fixed phone

--After using door k**b

--After using desktop or laptop

--After touching escalator handrail

--After touching elevator button

--After touching ATM buttons

--After using shopping cart handles

--After using public bus or even taxi

---------------------------------- a lot of things that will make you a person with mania of cleanliness because all of these things contain a huge count of bacteria than average toilets have as per stated here by one top contributor.

Normally I wash hands whenever I feel it's darty.  

Answer 12

I am a 40 year old female and I wash my hands after using the restroom because I was taught to do so.  Perhaps not everyone had the benefit of being taught manners and basic hygiene. Thanks Mom!

Answer 13

Hi, I'm male (36). I have notced this in bars, too. Guys will go to the bathroom and leave without washing their hands. Some people just pass one hand under a tap! I think, in night clubs, one reason some people don't wash is because they want to be out of the bathroom quickly - as the discomfort of being in there for long may appear 'perverse'...or they were in there doing drugs,not using the toilet.

If it was a man who 'used' the urinal, he may not have actually passed any urine (we don't watch each other), as sometimes you 'can't go' with other people there - so they don't wash their hands.

There should be an automatic door or no door (if room suffices)...or outwards-opening door, to open with your foot!

We wash our hands after using the loo  - HALF WAY THROUGH, or AFTER a meal. We should have washed them BEFORE eating! (if you wash your hand before using the bathroom, they are already dirty!

If your hand touches your p***s, you should wash them both. (both hands, I mean!)

UKJazzcat!!

Answer 14

maybe they like the smell, see if they constantly sniff their fingers, especialy if they are eating.

Answer 15

I am 15 am F, and YES!!! I always do, I feel disgusting and dirty if I dont. Sometimes I just wash them because I feel that they're dirty too I feel like a hygiene freak but o well.