Hygeine. It's a good thing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22827499/

What is this? Health professionals not washing their hands? Personally, I find that just a little troubling...It shouldn't be something that a doctor or nurse needs to be reminded to do. If they've been through med school, it should almost be reflex.

Looking at my own habits, I'm nearly a compusively clean person. I'm the one who can't go a day without brushing her teeth less than twice, if not three times. I once asked my father to turn the car around when we were already an hour and a half away from home because I forgot my deoderant. I'm not a habitually dirty or slobbish person. I do know people who are. One girl only showers once a month. (And yes, she actually tells people this.) She doesn't wear deoderant. The reason for her infrequent bathing is, she claims, that her hair needs "special treatment". It needs to soak in grease? At least wash the rest of your body. In theatre last year, girls in the dressing room would have to spray her bag and clothes with air freshener or body spray when she wasn't there. And she didn't notice. Seriously, if you stink, it's time to take a shower.

I can understand lack of hygiene in a few people at school. It's certainly nice that the general practice for most sane people is washing themselves regularly. Seriously, we do live in America. While many aspects of that suck, we do have a lot of luxuries. Like nice, hot, running water. It's not a huge deal to go and hop in the shower for twenty minutes. In hospitals and other medical environments, cleanliness should be the norm. If a doctor or nurse, or even a visitor going to another patient didn't wash after touching somebody else, something really nasty could be started. Staph infections, pneumonia, flu. If I knew that a doctor hadn't washed their hands, I probably would ask them to do so. Can you imagine what would happen if anyone exposed to that kind of thing walked into a clean room and infected an immunocompromised patient?

I know that nothing will make everyone start washing, but I still hate walking into the bathroom and seeing somebody walk out without washing their hands. I wonder if it's pure laziness or just neglect, or if they really are in such a huge hurry. My invisible-woman status and shyness prevent me from asking people to wash, but I always hope that my look of utter horror will instigate guilt and a bout of hand-washing.
Or maybe a spray in the face from the faucet.
Either's good.