Ever notice that most people using public toilets don’t bother to wash their hands when they are done doing their business? Makes you wonder if they wash their hands before eating, drinking and sleeping either.

Why sleeping, you ask? Thumb sucking may be one of those things that you grow out of, but do you really know what you are doing while asleep?

Sleep behaviour aside …

It would seem from these ‘toilet observations’ that not many adults abide by the simple rule of ‘washing your hands after you go’. In itself, it is bad. Unfortunate it becomes when these adults set an example for their children, and their children observe the actions of other adults.

Monkey see, monkey do … as the saying goes. Kiddies see, kiddies do. Maybe it is as simple as that.

Perhaps as you read this, some poor miserable kid is being taunted in school just for spending an extra minute soaping up and getting clean. Bullied to the point of extinction, clean hands may soon be a thing of the past.

But hope is not lost.

Some people actually do wash their hands after visiting unhygienic places as a matter of common and natural practice. Bucking the trend, these same people might have been part of an underground movement through their schooling years … the Clean Hands Fraternity, I think they’re called. No wonder they didn’t have much of a following.

With a world awash with harmful bacteria and other menacing micro organisms, it just makes sense to protect yourselves and others by doing what you can. Washing your hands regularly is one such action. A full sterile body suit would be another, just that it makes going to the toilet such a chore!

As far as washing hands go, the argument between regular or anti-bacterial soap is long winded and, at least to some, inconclusive.

On one hand, anti-bacterial soap kills harmful bacteria. On the other, regular soap should be enough to get rid of all that grime of which the bacteria holds onto and multiplies. So, without their homes they get washed away into the drains and pipes and sewerage to join their brothers in arms.

However, some argue that using anti-bacterial soap reduces the ability of the body to build up natural defences against future invasions, especially in children. Apparently small doses of bacteria do help you get stronger. A classic case of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, eh?

But then again, what good would be soap that simply displaces bacterial from your hands onto the sink surface anyways? This goes on and on and on.

Whatever the argument is, in all probability a consensus has been reached – that using soap of any kind is always better than not using soap at all. Or that using water without soap is much better than not washing your hands at all ... something is always better than nothing, it seems; especially in this day and age.

So, the next time you use public facilities where you work or study, keep an eye on what your neighbour does … NO, voyeurism is not encouraged! Just take note of who washes their hands and who doesn’t.

The next time that person borrows your pen; you’d know whether or not to soak it overnight in chlorine.