I have this thing about being clean. It is one of the clicks of my being OCD. As such, I clean our home a lot.
And I feel good when I am at home, hence my home-body-ness. (Did you know that there is even a patron Archangel for cleaning? Jophiel. Or so I’ve been told.)
Anyway, I don’t travel much anymore. This is part of it.
However. When I do, I try to stay in nicer hotels in hopes that their cleaning protocols are up to par. I often see “articles” about the cleanliness of traveling places. Hotel rooms. Cars. Airplanes. And such.
Recently, I came across an article about “The Dirty Hotel Room: The Germiest Spots in Hotel Rooms.
I won’t go into all the details about each one, as you all are smart people, and you know what dirt and germs are.
They listed the most troubled spots in each hotel room.
And here they are.
Here are the 12 dirtiest spots in hotel rooms:
Bathroom counter and faucet
Remote control
Desk
Phone
Coffee maker
Bathroom glasses
Ice buckets
Comforter, bed and pillows
Room keys
Sofa and chairs
Carpets
Air vents
Now. After looking at this, it seems like the only safe place to sit, stand, or sleep would be on the toilet. Or in the bathtub. And from what I’ve seen of some hotel bathtubs and toilets? Well. Let’s just say they don’t seem like the little Tidy Bowl guy, in his boat and captain’s outfit, has taken his little motorboat by in quite some time.
Oh. Let’s face it. The world is a germy place, and we are germy people.
Germs are microorganisms. That means they are so tiny that we can only see them through a microscope.
A “germ” is a general concept. It covers a lot of bases. This includes bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
And as we all know, germs can be found literally everywhere: in the air, in water, on food, and on surfaces. They also live around and inside people, animals, and plants.
Like I said. We are germy people. The human body is home to about 1,000 germ species. That’s a thousand SPECIES.
In fact, there are between 2 to 10 million germs units on our fingertips and elbows at any given time. And guess what? These numbers tend to double or triple after certain activities. Oh, say, like using the toilet.
And they have a shelf life. Germs can survive for up to three hours on the skin if we don’t wash them away or kill them with personal disinfectants. Because one little tiny germ can replicate. And replicate. One germ can multiply into more than 8 million germs in one single day. That’s how fast they spread.
Believe it or not, all infectious diseases are caused by germs. And our hands are the big spreaders.
But wait, there’s more. Hands spread 1,000 times more germs when they are damp than when they are dry.
But wait, there’s lots more. I could go on and on about them here. Even so, I won’t. I’m sure we all get the picture.
The bottom line is this. Some people care about germs, and other people don’t give them a second thought. They’ll grab their change and bills from the McDonald’s cashier and then drop their hand in the bag of food and stuff a few french fries in their mouths. Little did they know that the last guy who used that dollar bill was on the verge of coming down with the pukey stomach virus, Norovirus. I’ll guarantee they won’t be eating french fries tomorrow.
So there it is. Your hotel room. Your husband’s hand. Your phone. Your french fries.
Germs abound on everything. Everywhere. All the time.
Have a nice day.
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“Dirt is not dirt; it is a whole universe of life.” – Marcus Houston
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“If you think that your germs are your friends, just remember that some of your friends can kill you.” – Ben Wilson
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“Viruses are the ultimate parasites. They can’t live without a host.” – Lawrence Wayne
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You little germy thing, you.
