Comment by potater | Hacker News Reader

Comment by potater | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

In heading to the restroom I know that I'll have the opportunity to wash my hands after, so the handle leading in is of little concern to me.

In my admittedly anecdotal experience, the rate of full grown adults who casually ignore the sinks after finishing up their business and leaving a stall seems to be disturbingly high. It just kinda gets my ick-factor going. Granted, I'm something of a germaphobe (I wash my hands many times/day) so I might just be more inclined to notice those who don't vs those who do--- regardless, I'll almost always save a paper towel or something to turn the door handle when possible.

Anyway, I don't think the lack of a trash can nearby excuses those who would dispose of it on the floor though. I just hold onto it until I find the next closest trash can outside the bathroom. That usually takes less than a minute, depending on where I am.

> In my admittedly anecdotal experience, the rate of full grown adults who casually ignore the sinks after finishing up their business and leaving a stall seems to be disturbingly high

I dunno about stalls, but there is some not totally unreasonable (though still mildly icky) argument for not washing your hands after using a urinal: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1987#c...

Not only that, but urine is -- assuming you don't have a UTI -- sterile and even a mild disinfectant. The purpose of washing hands isn't to remove any urine; rather, it's to remove any fecal bacteria along with other pathogens which may have been picked up outside of the washroom.

If for some reason you can't wash your hands, you'd probably be better off deliberately peeing on them.

Which is why it's odd that most washrooms have you pull a door by the handle to exit, a handle many others have probably touched without washing their hands. Ikea is one place that comes to mind that avoids this, instead having a sequence of offset walls to give privacy without a door.

I see that design quite often at airports too -- if you have a large volume of traffic, doors run into collision issues.

But doors do have another purpose in addition to privacy: They contain airflow. I suspect that where this design is used there is extra work to ensure a persistent flow of air coming in through the entrance and then being evacuated from within, similar to negative-pressure rooms in hospitals.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com