Why are there so many people who don't wash their hands...

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Actually, I agree that it is not a good idea to be a sanitation freak. If our homes are overly clean, we won't be able to build any immunity to normal pathogens in our environments. And frequent sanitation can lead to super-bacteria, as we usually manage to destroy the weakest ones and leave the toughest ones behind. In fact, current research on allergies and asthma links them directly to cultures which tend to oversanitize their homes. Third world kids rarely have asthma. Also, a few parasites also seem to be healthy, and research suggests that the components of our immune systems that evolved to fight bacteria are now "out of work," and are fighting harmless pathogens instead, like pollen.

Bacteria are also a normal inhabitant of our skin, and unless you are immuno-compromised, you should not get sick from the bacteria that normally colonize your body. But, when it comes to hands, several issues remain.

1. Viruses are never normal inhabitants in our bodies, and can make us sick. We develop resistance to viruses we meet a lot, but can become sick when we meet new ones. I always wash my hands when I've been out in public.

2. If I have a virus, I can easily get others sick if I use poor hand hygiene. If they happen to be immuno-compromised (many people are), I can be endangering their well-being.

3. Feces are not healthy to eat. We probably have some resistance to the normal bacteria in our own bowels, but again, the people around us, or using the shopping cart after us, may not.

4. So even if I know I never get sick, something left on my hands could easily get someone else very ill. So when I'm feeling indifferent to my own health, I think about the health of others, and wash my hands.

OK, since we're talking about all this stuff, and since this is one of my special interests, I just want to say that bacteria are unbelievably amazing organisms. They evolve, they communicate, they reach out with finger-like projections and touch each other, thereby transmitting critical information about how to fight the evil armies coming to destroy them. And they win! we can never destroy them, not entirely. I love them for that. On a scale of one to ten, how weird would it be to get a bacteria tattoo? I'm not always the best judge of when something is too weird.

Engineers and mechanics wash their hands before going to the toilet...

Engineers and mechanics wash their hands before going to the toilet...

...after a toilet visit?

In my country, people seem to be too lazy to wash their hands even after a poop, it disturbs me, knowing that I always wash my hands after a wee and do it more than once after a poop. I also keep my nails incredibly short so there doesn't get any filth underneat it.

I guess I'm a weird case then.

I also shower daily, while most other people over here do it like once every 2 days or even 3 days.

Is sanitairy hygiene being overlooked these days or what?