Germophobes

[Mz Chaos]

I was just sitting here... browsing the forums... when my door opens and my roommates daughter comes in. Held between her semi-grubby little 9 year old fingers which has seen a day of playing with a cousin is a tomato sauce covered macaroni noodle.
As she is a thoughtful child, she thought perhaps I would like to try one.



Trying to weasel my way out and doing my best to not hurt her feelings by not accepting, I rose from my chair on the premise of wondering what it was and went to ask her father what sort of sauce was on the noodle. It worked. She ate it instead while I was inquiring about the tidbit I had been offered.

All my life I have been a germophobe. Not to the extent of where my house is "spotless" or that i am washing my hands 50 times a day... but almost. Thankfully, along with being a germophobe I am also OCD which gladly has me wiping counters, cleaning toilets... and okay... I probably do wash my hands more than most folks.

My friends back home in Washington who are aware of my fear of germs know that if they have the slightest sniffle or cough not to show up on my doorstep.
I panic whenever I go into a doctors office for a routine exam for a prescription refill because I am walking into a room full of sick people where I have to breathe whatever germs and viruses they have while I am waiting to be called. Why is it the ones with colds and flu are never provided with "painter's masks" to prevent the spread to the unaffected patients who are there for other reasons?

Anyway...

I am asking that other germophobes post here so that I do not feel quite so... weird.

 

[CrystalLight]

It fluxuates for me. All of my jobs have been surrounded by the aspect of cleaning, so I've seen a lot of things. It's made me paranoid in certain aspects.

 

[kurchatovium]

I can understand where you are coming from and though I dont have such a big thing perse for germs I do have a rather bad case of OCD. So the OCD apsect does tend to have me worrying about cleaniness issues more so then I probably would if I were OCD free. Hope this helps.

 

[Evil Dave]

I've had a minor case of OCD for some years, ever since I was a kid.

I've more or less got it under control now but I must admit I still tend to wash my hands a lot more than most people and I am quite fastidious about personal hygiene.

I wouldn't necessarily call it a phobia but it got pretty close when I was younger.

 

[..Glamorous..]

I am an HUGE germophobe! And, for some reason people think that means to torture me.

 

[vladtickleman22]

I guess i'd fall under a bit more then normal when it comes to cleaning. Not sure if i would classify as gemophobe though.

 

[SapphireRose]

Viper usually doesn't go any more than two hours without washing His hands. He's kinda got me in a better habit of washing my own too. But we aren't germaphobes...you should see how "neat" our room is...so OCD is out too.

 

[Flatfoot]

I handle money bags all day, which are FILTHY. One of my complaints about my job is that I have a limited eating selection from the back of my truck, because if I have to touch it with my hands, I won't eat it. Time obligations don't always permit me to wash my hands on a regular basis, and by the end of the day, my hands can sometimes be black. If I remember to, I sometimes ask and grab a cashier's handwipe from the grocery stores I pick up. They don't get the dirt off, but at least it's sanitized dirt. When I DO get back to my branch and have to use the bathroom, I first hit up the deep sink and the Gojo, because I love pumice soap more than regular anti-bacterial. I love the abrasive feel of the dirt getting scrubbed off. THEN, I'll wash with anti-bacterial to kill the germs. It's pretty bad when you wanna wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom!

 

[paracarl44]

I know a guy who pushes open a restroom door with his elbows,then uses the paper towel that he is drying his hands with to pull the door handle.

 

[lemoncake]

I'm kind of cautious at certain places, I do bring those antibacterial wipes with me, but thats also because I'm allergic to dust and love thrift stores. And I take airborne a lot too in the winter months, and try to take all my vitamins and eat a lot of leafy greens and keep my immune system up. But thats because for awhile I had a pretty bad immune system because of the way that I was eating. I had a friend who was very paranoid about germs, but her room was a mess. She wouldn't eat fondue, because she was afraid everyones germs would mix together.

 

[arion30]

Bah could be worse. you could have a fear of platypusses. now that would be weird

 

[Mz Chaos]

I know a guy who pushes open a restroom door with his elbows,then uses the paper towel that he is drying his hands with to pull the door handle.

I so love the bathrooms at Walmart. I wish I could have a similar set up at home. Now if they would just put in automatic stall door openers, I'd be in heaven.

 

[..Glamorous..]

I know a guy who pushes open a restroom door with his elbows,then uses the paper towel that he is drying his hands with to pull the door handle.

I do that at school, but typically I flat out refuse to use public restrooms.

 

[FlockOfSeagulls]

just make sure that one of your friends doesn`t bring a salad to dinner that he prepared while bathing...

 

[EcEu]

I am an HUGE germophobe! And, for some reason people think that means to torture me.

that is &*%$ed up, I haven't been sick in over two years because i'm so careful to avoid being in the firing path of someone who is sick.

If a friend of mine is ill and is deliberately trying to cough/sneeze on me, i will not hesitate to drop them to the ground and tape a flu mask onto their face, no one should try and get a friend sick, even if it's a joke

 

[EcEu]

just make sure that one of your friends doesn`t bring a salad to dinner that he prepared while bathing...

GERMS!! (thanks kramer)

 

[Sanhael]

You've got to love how some people will fear going out in the cold and the wet for fear of catching a cold (which can't happen; colds are virus-based conditions which require the transmission of a living organism; you can't catch a cold from the cold) but, at the same time, they think it's funny to sneeze on a friend while they're sick.

I'm not a germophobe, but I do have a mortal fear of certain other things which, while not quite so likely to impede my ability to function day-to-day, are also far less likely to actually cause me harm. I can certainly understand the general emotion involved.

 

[Perduabo]

I'm something of a neat freak (it kills me to have my room and home out of order) but as far as germs go, I'm probably what most people would call "normal".

I wash my hands after cooking/working/using the restroom, but I'm not obsessive about it. Don't blame you though. Lots of people I know are germaphobes, I see nothing out of the ordinary about it.

 

[dove]

Goodness, you are not alone, I promise you! I am a terrible, terrible germaphobe. I live in a dormitory now, and my roommate...she can be so terribly messy

She leaves a banana peel around and all I can think of is that there are germs, germs all over it and it will get all over my things. Living with someone is terrible when you are afraid they might have something you could get, too. Not fun!

 

[BlackestLily]

I so love the bathrooms at Walmart. I wish I could have a similar set up at home. Now if they would just put in automatic stall door openers, I'd be in heaven.

Not to make you more of a germophobe (which I semi-am. I can take my own but not the germs of others), but I was watching a small special on some of the worst, unexpected places germs were found. One was right on the soap dispensers since it's the first place people touch after they've used the bathroom and janitors don't think to clean it. Another one is vacuums. They said because it's vacuuming dust, food particles, germs, etc, when you vacuum it just spreads it everywhere. And if someone walks through your house with their shoes on? Even worse. Though my gross out is thinking how I put food in my cart while other people put their dirty diapered babies, kids with nasty shoes, et.