I’m seeing a disturbing trend growing on campus that has nothing to do with clothes, hairstyles or music. It’s people leaving the bathroom without washing their hands.
I first noticed it my sophomore year at East Tennessee State. Girls were taking all the time in the world to fix their hair and mess with their lipstick, but didn’t bother to take a quick rinse with the provided soap and water.
A few people here and there glancing furtively around and then dashing out with dry, germ-infested hands was not a big deal. I’m one of those weird people that open the bathroom door with a paper towel anyway, so I wasn’t too bothered.
This year, however, it has gotten out of control. In the Culp Center alone, it has become the norm for girls to dash out of the stall and hit the door without hesitating.
Now, I’m not picking on the girls. I’m sure the guys do it, too. It would just be kind of awkward for me to find out, considering that would require me to be in the guy’s restroom.
But I digress. Before writing this editorial, I did a little research. Since the Culp Center is where I am on most breaks after classes, I decided to check out several different bathrooms on a number of days to find out how many ladies really were leaving without a second thought to their hygiene.
Some of you may recall a strange woman lurking in the facilities, spending way too much time powdering her nose. Well, girls, that was me and I was secretly observing all of you.
It seems, according to my data, that at least one out of every four of you is leaving without washing your hands. This number might even have been higher had I not been standing there, because my presence may have peer-pressured you into scrubbing up. It also seems brunettes are the dirtiest, but that’s probably just a coincidence.
Considering the 12,000 students on campus, that’s quite a few people spreading their germs all over commonly-used areas, such as the computer lab and the Atrium. Personally, I really don’t want you to give me salmonella or whatever else you happen to be carrying around.
I’m sorry if you missed that day of kindergarten when they showed you how to properly wash your hands, but I’d be happy to remind you of how to do it. Turn on faucet to desired water temperature, squirt soap into hands, lather, rinse and repeat if necessary. I’m confident you can do it.
If you’re still skeptical about the whole washing your hands thing, imagine going to a really nice restaurant. You order and then head to the restroom, only to find your server in there as well, who exits the stall without a glimpse towards the sink.
Do you really want her thumb in your steak and salad? I didn’t think so.
Personally, I think it’s just common courtesy. You should care enough about your fellow students to not pass on whatever crap you pick up from being too lazy to splash a little water and soap on your hands.
This wouldn’t be such a big issue if it just affected the one who wasn’t doing the washing. But every time you neglect to wash your hands, you put me at risk for all sorts of lovely diseases that I don’t particularly want.
Really, it’s the least you can do, especially with cold and flu season coming up.
So, as a final plea, use that great pink soap they give you in the restrooms. It’s not that time-consuming and you can count that as your good deed for the day.
I’d really appreciate it and so would everyone else.

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