My brother once worked in a restaurant. He was washing dishes when someone told him to knead a dough. He said he was doing the washing up and that his hands were full with dirty dishwater. He got told that it didn’t matter and that she should do it. I never went to this place again.

I don’t make a habit of drinking from bathroom cups, we don’t even have one. The closest thing would be the mouthwash cap, which is community property, but the mouthwash kills the bad germs (I hope). I usually wash my hands twice. That is: water, soap, lather, rinse, soap, lather, rinse. That method seems to get any oils off and I feel confident that my hands are clean. (That is what really counts, isn’t it? Believing that your hands are clean?)

I guess I would fall in between the Nietzche and the OCD guy. I think that some germs in moderation are okay (even beneficial in the sense of innoculation), but there is no good reason to expose yourself to abnormally large quantities of germs, imo. In terms of the handle of the door, it probably gets cleaned as much as it gets contaminated, in other words, people are probably picking up germs from it as fast as they are leaving new ones. The number of germs on any specific part of the handle probably stays relatively constant.

Though I can tell you, having outspoken relatives in the dental field, that you should pitch your toothbrush and drinking cup if you use it while sick.

RELEVANT “NEWS”: The New York Times just looked at another pressing issue- should each family member have their own bar of soap? the answer awaits you right here.