I make no claim to scientific or statistical rigour but I don’t understand the gender and cultural differences in hand-washing after toilet visits here in France.
When doing the washing up over the last week, the washing up area is right next to the toilets. I’ve had no option but to see people visiting the toilets and was struck by how infrequently men wash their hands after using the toilet. Fewer than 1 in 10 men made even a token effort to wash their hands while it was nearly 50% for women who also made more of an effort when washing theirs.
Sometimes the sounds emanating from the cubicles resembled an animal being slaughtered or someone trying to pass a house brick. But afterwards, they emerge often red-faced and sweating, ignore the available wash-hand basins and head back to their mohomes, caravans or tents. When the men do trouble the wash-hand basins, it generally amounts to a sprinkle of water over the paws, and then a shake of the hands. That’s it. The women who bother to wash their hands at least rub their hands after wetting them and rinse off.
Of course, they may wash their hands with soap when back at their mohomes etc but I doubt it. I simply don’t understand why so few men wash their hands after the toilet. And even among the women, only half of them troubled to do so. When we’ve stayed in Portugal and Spain over the winter, we’ve encountered outbreaks of stomach upsets and even vomiting and I can’t but wonder whether there isn’t a causal relationship between these outbreaks and poor toilet hygiene. I was even prepared to pay for a soap dispenser to be left at the nearest wash handbasin to the bogs but given the low use of the basin, I didn’t bother.
Anyway, enough. It’s off my chest. I’m going to wash my hands and have a glass of rosé and some chevre flavoured crisps. Hey ho.
When doing the washing up over the last week, the washing up area is right next to the toilets. I’ve had no option but to see people visiting the toilets and was struck by how infrequently men wash their hands after using the toilet. Fewer than 1 in 10 men made even a token effort to wash their hands while it was nearly 50% for women who also made more of an effort when washing theirs.
Sometimes the sounds emanating from the cubicles resembled an animal being slaughtered or someone trying to pass a house brick. But afterwards, they emerge often red-faced and sweating, ignore the available wash-hand basins and head back to their mohomes, caravans or tents. When the men do trouble the wash-hand basins, it generally amounts to a sprinkle of water over the paws, and then a shake of the hands. That’s it. The women who bother to wash their hands at least rub their hands after wetting them and rinse off.
Of course, they may wash their hands with soap when back at their mohomes etc but I doubt it. I simply don’t understand why so few men wash their hands after the toilet. And even among the women, only half of them troubled to do so. When we’ve stayed in Portugal and Spain over the winter, we’ve encountered outbreaks of stomach upsets and even vomiting and I can’t but wonder whether there isn’t a causal relationship between these outbreaks and poor toilet hygiene. I was even prepared to pay for a soap dispenser to be left at the nearest wash handbasin to the bogs but given the low use of the basin, I didn’t bother.
Anyway, enough. It’s off my chest. I’m going to wash my hands and have a glass of rosé and some chevre flavoured crisps. Hey ho.
