The dirtiest place? Guess where?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
#1

Happened to encounter a very shocking article…

Where do you think is the germist place you’ll go this summer?

Airplanes, kiddie pools, or public bathroom may come to your mind…

but according to a study conducted recently from somewhere, real answer is your own office!!!
:shock: :shock: :shock:
Becasue office hold more people for more hours for the day than ever before, and

that makes them literal breeding grounds for viruses and bacteria.

Among them all, believe it or not, the most dangerous place is not in the break room, cafeteria or even restrooms …

It’s right on your desktop!

Studies show desks contain about 400 TIMES more illness-causing germs than OFFICE TOILET SEATS

and desktop phones had the highest concentration of bacteria!

Stomach flu, pinky eye, summer colds, and skin infections are the most common bugs one could pick up at the office.

There are some preventive measures, though…

  1. For instance, wiping your phone with a disinfecting sanitizing wipe once a day can virtually eliminate bacteria wityhin 30 seconds!

  2. Also give your desk a swipe with the same disinfecting wipes you’d use on your phone after lunch each day.

  3. Stick your own mug and wash it well rather than using public office mugs.

#2

I thought you were going to write “Taiwan”.

I don’t know about all this obsessive behaviour regarding germs. Are there actually more germs in the world than there were 30 years ago ?

I would agree with you though that offices and classrooms are good places to get bugs and the cold. But I reckon most of those things are airborne - short of going around in a mask all the time a la Michael Jackson there’s not much you can do.

#3

I don’t get all this disinfecting stuff…as the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” If you don’t get a few germs in your system, then you are not going to have any antibodies to fight them off when those antibacterial things stop working (which we are finding out sooner thanks to antibiotic and antibacterial overusage and so-called “supergerms”). So you get a cold from the phone. It just means that the jerk who sneezed on it won’t give you the cold later when you’re stuck in the elevator with him.

#4

Don’t believe all the shite you read in the media. By far the most disgusting place in your immediate vicinity is inside your own body. It’s teeming with bacteria and is probably battling dozens of different types of viruses as you read this.
As for “using public office mugs” :shock:

#5

No, “What does not kill us makes us hungry.” – Groo.

Which is more of a truism than making us stronger, at any rate. Many bugs cause permanent damage, e.g., polio, meningitis, chlamydia, and probably SARS (too short of a baseline to be sure yet, though).

Yeah, the worst are these “antibacterial” soaps and toothpastes and so on containing Triclosan. DON’T use them; these are doing absolutely nothing useful and are causing household bacteria to develop resistance to the entire tetracycline class of antibiotics. Not to mention the risk of allergic reactions in sensitive people.

Plain old soap or an alcohol-gel hand cleaner is just as effective and a LOT safer.

#6

Shit, my wife has this in both out bathrooms. Are you sure about this? I mean, I know very well about antibiotic abuse in Taiwan, but are these soaps part of that abuse? Can you provide any links?

#7

And I thought my mind was the dirtiest place in Taiwan.

Actually, one of the most dangerous things you can ever do is stick your tongue in someone else’s mouth – you’re likely to pick up more germs there than from licking every inch of your and all your colleagues’ desktops. But for all the risk, it’s just too damn hard to resist those slightly parted lips, tilted chin, and look of beckoning passion in those half-closed eyes. So what the hell, might as well live dangerously and die with a smile on your face. :smiley:

#8

Mouth? Come on!

I used to have this argument with a gf who was obsessed with condoms for ‘protection’ despite being on the pill and, er, a sucker for oral sex.

#9

We got the problem licked in the end.

#10

Mouth? Come on!

I used to have this argument with a gf who was obsessed with condoms for ‘protection’ despite being on the pill and, er, a sucker for aural sex.[/quote]

Do you look like Jason from the Waltons or did you mean oral?

Jason’s the one in the middle.

#11

Quote:
"Actually, one of the most dangerous things you can ever do is stick your tongue in someone else’s mouth "

I would have voted for something like a bear trap, a meat grinder, or a hot waffle iron.

#12

[quote=“Richardm”]Quote:
"Actually, one of the most dangerous things you can ever do is stick your tongue in someone else’s mouth "

I would have voted for something like a bear trap, a meat grinder, or a hot waffle iron.[/quote]

All three of which describe the mouths of some women I’ve known – but my tongue would never go anywhere near such scary places.

#13

[quote=“Alleycat”][quote=“tmwc”]
I used to have this argument with a gf who was obsessed with condoms for ‘protection’ despite being on the pill and, er, a sucker for aural sex.[/quote]

Do you look like Jason from the Waltons or did you mean oral?

[/quote]

I guess she must have liked sticking her tongue in tm’s ear – but I wonder if she put the condom over his ear or on her tongue?

#14

my gosh, have any of you used a bathroom at ANY ‘Si Hai Dou Jiang Da Wang’ outlets in taipei city? incredibly disgusting. i can assure that there are many more pathogens and creepy crawly mosquitos/cockroaches/worms/etc in those closets of death than there are on my desk.

-chris

#15

Shit, my wife has this in both out bathrooms. Are you sure about this? I mean, I know very well about antibiotic abuse in Taiwan, but are these soaps part of that abuse? Can you provide any links?[/quote]
It’s been in the news every few months; it’s one of those “it’s a slow news day, so let’s trot it out again” stories. I’d suggest doing a search in Yahoo from time to time until it turns up again. Sorry, I don’t have any links for you (besides, on the Internet, you can find a site to tell you anything you want to believe).

#16

[quote]Alleycat wrote:
tmwc wrote:

I used to have this argument with a gf who was obsessed with condoms for ‘protection’ despite being on the pill and, er, a sucker for aural sex.

Do you look like Jason from the Waltons or did you mean oral?

I guess she must have liked sticking her tongue in tm’s ear – but I wonder if she put the condom over his ear or on her tongue?[/quote]

I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am english teacher and I do not make such mistakes. I fear you are misquoting me. :blush:

Has anyone ever put their tongue on something really cold and got it stuck? More dangerous than a frenchy any day.

Caught my cat with her tongue in the toilet the other day, that’s pretty dangrous too. Especially with a bastard like me ready to push you in.

I can touch my nose with my tongue.

#17

Ick. My ex-GF’s dog used to raid her cat’s litterbox for midnight snacks. And the dumb mutt was the worst dog I’ve ever met for licking people, too; you couldn’t sit down without him jumping on your lap and trying to lick your face, hands, anywhere he could get at. . . .

#18

Ick. My ex-GF’s dog used to raid her cat’s litterbox for midnight snacks. And the dumb mutt was the worst dog I’ve ever met for licking people, too; you couldn’t sit down without him jumping on your lap and trying to lick your face, hands, anywhere he could get at. . . .[/quote]

He wasn’t a dumb mutt; dogs eat shit; it’s their nature. I still stop mine from doing so though.