Lacking a "dirty feeling"?

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I don't know why this is..

but in elementary school, we had these bowls of paper mache stuff. I reached in it and spontaneously just cried.

I don't know why I did that. I've been told we can be sensitive/particular about texture.

Don't even remind me of paper mache. I quit going to an art school in 6th grade after getting an F in science on my progress report cause I sucked at paper mache (mostly cause I couldn't stand glue on my fingers constantly).

I LOVE paper mache! I'm sorry you cried, whitetiger. I might be this way too in that certain sounds/feel/sight can elicit tears - unsure why. Like me, you may be synaesthetic.

Someone get the hand sanitzer gel.....(plus it's gooey)

* quasi PM: whitetiger - I so much appreciate your videos! Thank you for posting. NearlyaHuman: Just moments ago I checked-out your blog - wow! Thank you for your contribution. You have offered so much; I liked your Embedded Figures. OK, a correction...you are absolutely not 'worthless,' the contrary!

Pistonhead: Well, paper mache is gravy (flour + water), just without meat juice. It's edible!

I'm kind of the opposite. I hate having sticky stuff on my hands (sensory issue). If I get insect guts on my hands, I go into slightly panicky "OhnoI'mgoingtoDIE" mode until I can wash my hands.

I'm fine with seeing things dissected, and I'm fine with the sight of blood, whether its my own or someone else's.

I have OCD and I just don't care about things like that. To be perfectly honest, I doubt it's a girl thing -- I was always that way in labs in shool with dissections -- and am since studying to be a forensic anthropologist. It takes a lot to get me upset about when it comes to things like that. On the other hand, I get extremely OCD about the order in which things are done, texture of my food, organization of my things, and plenty more.

Honestly, I can't say anything definitely one way or another.

I have a sense of dirtiness from many things - I must wash my hands after coming into the house, after shaking hands with people, after touching any kind of human product, or after touching food or meat The thought is so strong that I can not eat, use the toilet or touch any of my possessions until I have washed. (I recall from childhood reading that your hands are dirtier than your genitals, so you should wash before and after using the toilet). I wash my hands between 10 and 20 times per day, and sometimes have dry, flaking skin from the soap.

But the feeling of dirtiness does not affect everything - I can handle insects, plants etc and get no gross-out feeling. In fact I don't get a gross-out feeling from the dirty things either - I have no problem with nappy-changing or cleaning up puke, to the point other people get sick at my lack of reaction, except that I must wash afterwards.

I think it is all very normal and rational that I wash whenever exposed to things that cause sickness.

Oh....gross. I definately hope you don't wind up with a job scooping ice cream. Vigilant though thechadmaster thankfully is, he can't be everywhere at once. (He saw somebody scoop ice cream barehanded in another thread).

Why are people revolted by flies and why is it revolting if you squash one barehanded? Because flies land on s...t and it is all over their feet. And when you squash one barehanded, whatever germs were on the s...t that the fly stood on are now on your hand. A hand you aren't likely to wash in the near future. This is how disease gets spread.

Raw sewage spreads disease. People have known this for thousands of years, even if the exact mechanism was only discovered a couple hundred years ago. The people in Africa living next to sewage aren't actually fine with it. They are just forced by poverty to live that way. And they die young (frequently in infancy) of infectious disease.

I know exactly what you mean, and I'm like you here.

IMO, people are too paranoid about dirt these days. Cavemen brushed their teeth with moldy sticks and drank water from rivers and it was normal at the time.

I've always hated using soap, because it stinks, and I didn't get ill more often than everyone else for not using it.

My mum, on the other hand, is very sensitive to "dirty" stuff. She's the kind of person who says anything that splats is "gross". Though, she needs everything clean all the time anyway, and has to line things up neatly like I do. Little minor OCD methinks

I don't really get any 'dirty' feeling. And I don't understand, either, how my parents can find stuff so gross. My mom thinks cat hairs are disgusting. Imagine! She also thinks the carpet is disgusting. I don't see why.

I get grossed out because I'm terrified of flies, especially when I see one dead. Oh, my grandpa does that. He just kind of claps them with both hands.

I think alot of these issues change for people because people are different, not because of which side of the AS/NT divide you fall. I've known a few people who are undoubtedly NT who have no problem with touching insects and other 'gross' things, many of the same people often have noticably dirty hands and/or nails.
Personally, I don't like to touch insects or have them touch/fly-into me but have no problem with them being near me (except flying insects as they just don't stay still). I've never seen a dead body, the only one I had the opportunity to see was my grandad, I was tempted to go but didn't want to ruin any memories I had of him - I don't think it'd have effected me due to anything else.
I do have major issues with germs though - if I cook and have to use raw meat I'll throw it straight into the pan if it's pre-prepared with no contact (I'd rather burn myself with the splashes of hot oil than touch raw meat when not necessary) but if I have to cut it I wash my hands after every broken contact. If I use eggs I have to wash after I break each individual egg. In either scenario I cannot forget abot the contact I've had, almost like I can feel it! I also cannot stand sticky or dirty residue on my hands or under my nails and have to wash immediately. If I perseve something to be clean and it's easily wiped away on jeans, etc then that's exactally what I do - I don't have any hand washing OCD traits overall!

Wow. That's pretty mean.

the CURE

Haha,thanks.
I just wish more employers would have that attitude!

Sorry about that. I try to be funny sometimes, but I guess it was too harsh.