Sunday, March 27, 2011

8 Germiest Places

I’ve never been a germaphobe, but after seeing this great infographic illustrating both telephonic and observational studies, I’ve certainly been more aware of who around me is not washing their hands.Capture

Now AARP has published a list of the 8 germiest public places:

  1. Restaurant Menus
  2. Lemon Wedges
  3. Condiment Dispensers
  4. Restroom Door Handles
  5. Soap Dispensers
  6. Grocery Carts
  7. Airplane Bathrooms
  8. Doctors’ Offices

Scary how many of these are related to places frequented during travel and/or every day or weekly stops around town.  Probably a good idea to always have some hand sanitizer or wipes at the ready and not just for visits to “a greasy spoon.”

Might not be a bad idea for community destination marketing organizations to generate awareness among visitor related businesses and organizations such as airports, train and bus stations, restaurants, hotels, theaters, museums, ballparks, shopping malls and centers, retail stores, taxi cabs etc. as well as their own visitor information centers.

Kudos to the many businesses providing sanitary wipes or dispensers at entrances. Hopefully businesses, including those that are health related, began to look at even more ways to create awareness, short of requiring the hand-washing sink’s faucet to turn on for a certain length of time after a flush in the restroom before the exit door will open!

Okay, maybe some of us just need to have a little more courage to speak up when our fellow human beings think they are invisible.

1 comment:

jannc01 said...

When grocery stores first started the handi-wipes thing, I hated it particularly at health food stores--because they're all chemical wipes. But after getting really sick in the wintertime for several years, I started using them. Also noticed how babies in the carriage seats mouthed the cart handle, dripped all kinds of goo on it. Miraculously since I started using those wipes, I've rarely gotten the flu or bronchitis I used to. It IS a germy world.