Results Of The Grimiest Germ Challenge
In 2005, we ran a "Nastiest and Grimiest Germ Challenge" to learn more about our visitors' opinions on germs in public places. Reading through hundreds of entries, we learned the following:
The number one nastiest and grimiest place on earth is a restroom (and not just the ones found at gas stations, parks and truck stops), at least according to 94% of our respondents, followed closely by shopping carts which 82% of our respondents felt were almost as bad. (Read The Germ Freaks guide to Outwitting Colds and Flue by Allison Janse and Charles Gerba, Ph.D. Two popular sections of the book - The Ten Commandments of Surviving a Public Restroom and Attention Shoppers; There's a Special on E.Coli in Aisle 3 - offer insights into how to stay healthy while visiting these germ-ridden establishments).
We found that the responses were all quite similar even though respondents represented a good cross section of the country.
After analyzing the informaiton we collected (and gagging over many of the stories), we suggest that before you even think of ordering food at a restaurant, you use the restroom or at least take a quick peak. If it's gross, leave immediately.
It's important to note that even though the majority of our respondents indicated public restrooms were the nastiest, what we actually learned from reading their personal stories was that most of those public restrooms were actually located in restaurants. That means, the restaurant staff that handles your menus, cooks your food and serves it to you is using the same disgusting restroom facilities that made you want to gag and run.
After reading our respondents "personal stories" we also learned that the majority of people we come into contact with daily, simply do not wash their hands. This means wait staff, store clerks, executives and everyone in between are shaking your hands after handling the same door knobs, shopping carts, and restroom facilities that are laden with germs. And, whatever they touch has the residue of thousands of touches before them.
When some respondents indicated that movie theaters were the most germy places they encountered, further reading led us to belive it wasn't the movie theatre, per se, but the restroom inside the movie theatre. Since all personnel use the restrooms, the germs are brought directly to the concession stand, theatre door handles and just about everything else you come into contact with at the movies. So, when you pop that popcorn into your mouth, you are ingesting a lot more than just kernels of corn!
Am I a germ-freak? Yes. In fact, I come from a family of germ freaks. But I have to confess I've stepped up my concerns and my germ-cleansing tactics after conducting this challenge. I never shop without my Clean Shopper shopping-cart cover (even though my sons are now practically teenagers) and I always wash my hands!
