Originally Posted by D

You're mistaken.

By your logic, wiping your ass is a waste of time because the world's not going to come to an end if you don't.

It's not about mortality... it's about basic hygiene. Responsibility for your own waste.

Sure, there's stuff growing all over you all the time - and sure your body is fighting them all off... but taking a moment to simple wash off the fecal matter that _does_ collect on your hands after wiping your ass, or washing away the urine that _does_ sprinkle over your hand as you're managing your penis is just a common sense thing in helping your body's immune system do its job.... and a common courtesy to others to not smear your microscopic shit and piss all over them, their money, and their doorknobs.

There are all sorts of baddies growing in fecal matter.... E. coli, for one, is a feces loving bacteria... microscopic bits of fecal matter in your eye is what leads to pink eye... staph infections, strep throat - both are so prevalent in our society because of people who literally refuse to wash the shit off their hands. Urine is also one of the better bacterial growth mediums that your body produces... and every time you take a piss (assuming you're guiding your stream and shaking those last few drops), you've just pissed all over your hands as well.

It's not about a hopeless pursuit... it's about common sense and general health. You hands are the main contact sources with these bacterial cultures... and you have direct contact with them, or their most favorite food source, _every time_ you go to the bathroom... so why not wash that shit off?

If more people applied basic hygiene - simply taking showers once every few days, and washing their hands after they take a crap - there wouldn't be as much shit everywhere for the rest of us to deal with.... and then at least pink eye, staph infections, and strep throat cases would drop down significantly, if nothing else.

To claim that it'd have no effect is a profoundly ignorant statement.