What the fuck is wrong with people?

I wandered into a public toiled to take a shit. And it was a pretty good one. You know those shits you really enjoy? The ones where you manage to get really comfortable on the toilet, everything comes out real nice and easy, and when it's all done, you feel really refreshed? Well, I had one of those, and when I came out of the stall, I saw a guy washing his hands after presumably taking a piss (I can presume this because there was only one toilet in this bathroom and I was using it). This guy was washing his hands vigorously, as if he had just spilled a batch of pure liquid herpes on them. I kept an eye on him as I washed my own hands. I finished, and proceeded to dry my hands off with some paper towel, all the while continuing to monitor this stranger's behaviour. I deliberately took a really long time drying off, just because this guy had been washing his hands for so long, and I was curious to see how much longer he could go. Finally, he finishes up, grabs about eight paper towels (I had only needed two), making sure, of course, that his hands did not come in contact with the dispenser. After thoroughly drying his hands and forearms, he threw the used paper towel in the trash. But he wasn't done yet. He then grabbed one more piece while opening the door to leave, used it to prevent his hand from touching the door handle. As the door was swinging closed, he tossed this last piece of paper into the trash and he was out of my life forever.

What amazes me the most as I reflect upon this episode is that this kind of behaviour has become normal. Our society is so utterly and thoroughly fucked up that we are actually expected to behave this way. We are encouraged to fear germs, and dirt, and bugs, and to do anything we can to avoid infection. In fact, germophobia has become a massive industry. I once saw a commercial where someone was being followed around and they were pointing out every time he touched something where he might potentially be getting infected. I think it was an ad for some kind of anti-bacterial soap. Does anyone else see how insane this is? And there's a lot of this kinda shit being sold to us: hand sanitizer, antibacterial air and fabric refresher, antibacterial household cleansers, I've even heard of anti-bacterial toothbrushes!

Now, the first point that needs to be made about this stuff is that It's actually bad for you. For one, there are bacteria all over your body that are essential. Your whole body, including your skin, is an ecosystem. When you use hand sanitizer or any of that other shit, it throws the system out of whack and allows harmful bacteria to take over. Don't believe me? Do some research; google 'antibacterial products' and see what comes up. Secondly, even if this shit was good for you, is this really the way we want to live? Do we want to live in a society where we are afraid of door handles and railings, and embracing each other with hugs, kisses, and handshakes for god's sake? Is it really that important that we add five or ten years to our uninteresting lives? I think we've got to stop being such colossal pussies about our health and about hygiene and sanitation. If someone sneezes and a few snot droplets escape into the atmosphere, you probably won't get sick. And if you do, use it as an excuse to lay in bed for a few days, although if you're so uptight, you probably don't even know how to enjoy that. And if someone a block away is smoking a cigarette and you smell it, you probably won't get lung cancer the next day, so just fucking relax. And ladies please, don't put hand-sanitizer on your babies. I've heard about this, and it's disgusting. In fact, it should be considered child abuse.