Public restrooms wrecked my faith in humanity.

The whole idea of sharing a toilet with hundreds of my closest strangers has always made me a bit queasy, but once I started to notice how many people left the restroom without washing their hands my faith was shattered. People I saw at school and church on a regular basis  would walk out of the restroom to face the world with germy hands.

At first I would defend the germy-handed people in my mind with excuses like, “She’s late for class,” “She just forgot,” or “Maybe she is running from the mafia and just couldn’t hold it.”

This reaction worked until I started to notice the activities people take part in between leaving the stall and exiting the restroom. I noticed women would stop to check their hair in the mirror, apply lip-gloss or check for texts. They obviously were not in a hurry, sometimes it seemed like they were wasting time before they went on with their day. This realization made it harder to make up excuses for people, but the practice that completely crushed my coping mechanism was the finger-wash.

The finger-wash is exactly what it sounds like. It is when someone, usually only using one hand, turns on the water, and rubs their fingers together in the stream, only getting them wet from the second knuckle forward. Then they grab a paper towel and head for the door. There is not any soap involved in the finger-wash.

This is all gross, but it’s the principle that makes me wonder about my fellow humans.

Since people don’t wash their hands in public, they may never wash them. If the finger-wash is the most effort a person can put into the cleanliness of his or her hands, how much effort can I expect someone to put into the cleanliness of my food at a restaurant?

Please, think about the last time you washed your hands. Now, go wash them again, and keep in mind the advice your mother gave you when you were a kid. Although, I have seen many mothers march out of the restroom without washing their hands.