dawnball said:
Several people have pointed out reasons this is a bad idea. However, there's a much, much easier answer to avoid picking up germs from serving utensils at buffets.
1) Don't eat at buffets.
Well, duh - I do feel silly (not angry, not embarassed, not that dawnball is showning off that she's smarter or has more common sense than the rest of us - even though it's apparent she is/does
- not insulted, offended, etc - just silly). THIS is such the basic, simple, obvious intelligent solution/response.
So, dawnball - where were you a week ago?
MidgeHadley said:
Just again, for the record - I am a foot flusher. But I don't want to be lumped in with the germaphobes. I don't care about getting germs on my hands. I just foot flush because public toilets always have such low levers that foot flushing is just what I've always done
Well, reasonable alternatives would be to squat down or lean over and flush... but since you're not going to change this habit, would you mind removing your shoe before you flush?
dbriggsq said:
So it doesn't bother you that you are endangering someone else's health by your practice. There are far more germs on the toilet floor and hence on your shoe which you are transferring to the handle that the next person will touch
Not just the toilet floor, but everywhere the foot-flusher has stepped recently (or not so recently, in the case of some substances).
buffettgirl said:
When I'm dressed up fancy and have no inclination to reach my foot up there, I simply grab a piece of toilet paper and flush, tossing the toilet paper in on the way down.
Respectfully, why can't you do that every time, instead of using your shod foot? Not addressing this poster specifically, but anyone who uses the same procedure she does.
If the architect/plumber wanted people to flush with the foot, they'd have installed the flushing mechanism on the floor. This isn't rhetoric - this item DOES exist (ask bavaria).
BUT - you're going to wash your hands on the way out, so it's irrelevant if I flush with my foot or hand. Same germs
Nope. There's no bird poop on my hand; there's no leftover traces of protein spill on my hand (truly - if there had been any at any time, I'd have washed it off immediately); there's no lizard droppings on my hand; there are no traces of rotting food on my hand... and excuse me, but - a "standard" in
any country for which hand is used for what activity?
:
MidgeHadley said:
With all these crazy dangers in the bathroom, it's really a wonder we're all alive.
While I strongly disagree with your method (yes, I did have to get that in
), it's not a wonder at all... at least regarding those of us who've built a healthy immune system by exposing ourselves to normal germs throughout our lives and NOT overabusing antibacterial products and antibiotics.
I foot flush because I don't feel the need to bend down to the lever as it's quite low on many toilets. And I don't want my face that close to the bowl.
So, don't bend - crouch. Bend at your knees, not at your waist (you're not lifting anything except your leg, so you're not putting unnecessary/unhealthy strain on your back).
lisadam said:
I was in my 40s and here on the DIS when I first heard that people not only didn't do it that way - but that they'd never heard of doing it that way.
I was, let's see, fifty-three and about two months old the VERY FIRST time I EVER heard of people using their foot to flush the toilet. That was last month; one of my coworkers (whom I trust and believe) told me she knows some other of our coworkers - at least one, anyway - flush this way. THAT'S the only reason I'm not absolutely stunned at this conversation.
PrincessTrisha said:
But just so you guys aren't wasting your money on your cleaning supplies (or transporting sheets, etc), I'll make sure to sneeze on the remote control, lick the glasses,
Wouldn't it be more effective to sneeze on the glasses and lick the remote?
That one got me in trouble with my sleeping DH! I laughed too loud!!! 
