I was looking online for perhaps some online articles to forward to them, but a lot of what I found was for people in the restaurant business. Most of what I found for the home was for cooking, thawing, raw food, etc. I'm sure they aren't sanitary about that either. While there was a lot about washing hands, there was little or nothing mentioned about how to handle the plates, utensils, etc., and I think that the people who write these rules and tips don't realize how disgusting some people are. People like my friends need very detailed rules because I don't think they understand the concept or care. If I can find a book that goes into all this I would be happy to buy it for them as a gift.
Yesterday I was at their home for a birthday party for their son. Here is what I observed:
1. Helen disposed of a used diaper in the garbage pail without washing her hands afterwards, then handled food. I鈥檓 certain that she didn鈥檛 wash her hands after changing the diaper, but it is possible that she could have used hand sanitizer as I wasn鈥檛 present in the room. In any case her hands were contaminated when she threw out the diaper and they weren鈥檛 washed.
2. Helen emptied bag of chips into a bowl, sticking her hand in the bag to help take the chips out, rather than just pointing the bag down and pouring them from the bag.
3. Helen used her hands in assisting her to place the slices of birthday cake on the plates. She used a regular knife to cut the cake, and I think with a cake knife it would have been easier to use the knife to move the cake to the plate without touching it.
4. While serving the birthday cake (and touching it as explained in item 3 above), Helen licked her fingers.
5. Helen handled the pizza in an unsanitary manner, touching it unnecessarily. To some extent this may have been difficult to avoid because the pizza had to be heated in the microwave.
6. Utensils for the birthday cake were in the plastic bag they were purchased in, but the bag was torn open on the end that touches the food, not the handle end. This makes it difficult for people to take a utensil without touching other utensils.
7. Jay handed me a cup of water with his hands over the top of the cup.
8. Drink cups were arranged face up rater than face down.
9. I was pleasantly surprised that they used a ladle like serving spoon for the bowl of ice, but I think that tongs would have been better. The other guests were unsanitary as well, and I saw them sticking the ladle inside their cups, possibly touching cups that they drank out of already.
10. I don鈥檛 know if either of them washes their hands when using the bathroom, but I can鈥檛 say for sure. I've witnessed Jay not washing his hands when using a public bathroom. I don鈥檛 know about his wife, but it wouldn't surprise me if she didn't either.How do I get my friends to implement some basic sanitary standards?
It's been my experience that they'll never learn--"it is what it is". In the future, decline all invitations to their parties in a polite manner (if it's for the kid, you can always just send a gift instead). Anything you say is going to be taken as a personal attack.
I'd get some different friends, frankly....it's not like you're related to these people. If they ask why you're avoiding them, then have a heart-to-heart talk. They were never taught how to do things and I'm betting really don't care either. Anytime you'd go over, you're going to be on constant guard watching for every little thing%26gt;%26gt;so why get sick over it...just don't go.
That dirty diaper business tells me all I need to know.
I disagree with other posters who don't think washing hands after diapers is important-we always wash before handling babies %26amp; after any diaper changes/or B4 feedings. Good luck with trying to educate them. Carrying bottle of sanitizer is no big inconvenience-they come in pocket size.
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How do I get my friends to implement some basic sanitary standards?As far as I'm concerned, there's no room for compromise when it comes to good "bathroom" hygiene-I don't blame you for limiting them when handling food. Hope something sinks in when you read your list to them. If they're really "friends" they will have a reasonable discussion..if not: write them off
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Honestly? If you keep your house spit-shine clean and everything sterilized, your kid is going to grow up allergic to everything and with a weak immune system. Let it go.How do I get my friends to implement some basic sanitary standards?
Sorry, and I'm fairly conscious of reasonable sanitariness too, but these people aren't very different from average so I think that you may be more germaphobic (mysophobic) than you realize. Most of your examples were extremely minor (even to me), and nothing much more than you'd get just handling things in public or their phone/computer/door handles/etc, or kissing someone, etc.
It isn't even healthy for humans to live in a completely sanitary world since our immune systems would get flabby and not work, though that doesn't mean that certain things aren't worse than others or that isn't reasonable to limit the number of exposures. (See also the latest research on ordinary outdoor "dirt" and immune system development). Reactions like that to silverware and dishware, etc., is common for mysophobes.
The one you might be able to mention to her is the diaper one, since you could easily find stuff online about how that could be a problem for the baby in some situations. But I'll have to say also that until you've changed diapers all day, for years, you may not really know how disruptive it would be to wash after every one...or exactly how she may be doing it that reduces risk in the first place. In fact, baby poop molecules are probably on just about every surface of that house just from the baby living there, not to mention human ones --everywhere.
As for mysophobia, you might want to see where on the continuum of degree of symptoms you might fall (e.g., how much order you need in your life, how "right" things need to seem before you're comfortable, whether you have checking compulsions, etc).
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