Neighbour's plastic cup and Covid19

[Annarosez]

I have OCD and was just wondering how a "normal person" would deal with this!

A few days ago when it was recycling collection day a plastic cup from one of our neighbour's recycling bags was blown by the wind onto our front lawn. With Covid-19 spreading through both saliva and droplets, this made me a bit concerned (i.e. a relatively large amount of saliva like that could easily contain thousands+ viral particles and it can last on plastics for 3-9 days) so I left it for 3/4 days and then we've just poked the cup down into the street (with a stick) close to our bin for bin collection tomorrow. This obviously looks a bit insane and got me wondering what everyone else would do?

I hear you @cherrybunx0 but mine is around germs and I have a huge fear of contamination. I still would have picked it up. With a paper towel mind you, but I wouldn't just leave it for someone else to deal with.

Hi, just waving in as a fellow OCD sufferer 🤗 difficult times we're in

If the cup is going into the recycling bin it’s almost certainly been at least rinsed out if not washed up unless your neighbour was only drinking water from it. Even then I’d think most people would rinse it as they’d need it to dry before putting it in with paper etc (assuming you’ve mixed recycling). So it really wasn’t a “cup covered in saliva”.

I have OCD so I both sympathise & empathise; but refuse collectors here, at least, are absolutely not expected to go about picking up stuff left in the general vicinity of bins. I understand fearing contamination & any direct contact leading to the belief that anything then touched was contaminated - but I’m not sure why you didn’t use a small binbag or carrier bag to pick it up & deposit it in the recycling/bag & bin if your fears extend to it contaminating recycling plant. Then you’d have stayed “clean enough” to touch the door & taps etc for handwashing afterwards.

Have you a therapist at the moment? If so you definitely need to talk this through with them. If not, please talk to your GP & ask for some help. If there’s anything that’s worked before that you can do/step up yourself, please do it - & I mean that in the kindest way. I’m thinking partly about how badly this would have gone if you’d somehow ended up dropping the cup onto yourself...

we've just poked the cup down into the street (with a stick) close to our bin for bin collection tomorrow

I pick up litter, in a tissue if it looks dirty, and then wash my hands as soon as possible.

I wouldn't expect a binman to pick up litter on the street, and I don't think they do it. Their job is hard and heavy enough already. You've just left litter for someone else to pick up.

Pick it up, bin it, wash hands 10x.

If you had a stick to hand, why didn't you just pick it up on that and flick it in the bin?

When you say 'we've' just poked it with a stick and close to 'our' bin, who do you mean and do they have OCD too?

Sympathise with your as having ocd can make you totally overthink and other people would deal with it without even thinking too much
Have you had any help for ocd?
I have it and agree I would prob pick and wash my hands but up until recently my ocd May of made me wash my hand 10 times
So if you can get help with ocd if not already then please see what you help can get to try to overcome as best you can , best of luck

I would have used a plastic bag to pick it up and then washed my hands.

Yeah, genuine OCD changes this a bit.

Do you live alone, OP?

Or could you use a carrier bag as a barrier - put your arms inside the carrier and then pick it up through the carrier, place in the bin and drop the bag in without touching the outside of the bag? Or would that be too hard too?

If you live alone and couldn't use a bag to do it, then I don't really see what options you have other than leave it and hope it goes away...

Pick up bottom of cup (where you don't put your mouth), dispose of it and then wash hands.

I would probably pick it up -using gloves if I had them, but otherwise just my hands - and put it in the nearest bin. And then give my hands a good wash; as indeed I would after handling someone else's rubbish at any time. It's unlikely that she'd JUST used it, and you are supposed to wash cups before putting them in the recycling, so I doubt that there was much if any contamination. As I understand, the risk from touching something that had been touched by one other person is tiny, so long as you wash your hands after doing so.

I would feel bad leaving it as litter so I’d use a plastic bag to pick it up and wrap and bin, then wash hands

Not diagnosed OCD but have traits relating mainly to food germs (I’m autistic)

I wouldn't leave it for someone else (ie the bin collectors) to pick up.
I'd probably pick it up with a stick and put it in the bin. Or pick it up, put it in the bin, and wash hands well.

Did you decide that the neighbour would have licked the cup all over? Just pick it up from the bottom (like you do), put it in the bin, and if feeling a bit paranoid wash your hands. Or even easier, pick it up with a stick, put it in the bin, end.

I would have picked it up, put it in the bin and washed my hands if I remembered.

But I am not afflicted by the contamination paranoia which is sweeping the country even faster than Covid19.

@Uygop the OP has OCD, she isn't "a bit paranoid"

@Oakmaiden

Yeah, genuine OCD changes this a bit

No, nothing has changed. OP said in her OP that she has OCD, the fact that people didn’t take her OP seriously doesn’t mean anything has changed.

Sorry OP that was a bit mean if you have a proper OCD diagnosis. But at the moment there are a lot of people who haven't a diagnosis of anything doing some really weird things with disinfectant and bleach.

It must be very difficult for someone with genuine OCD to realise whether their behaviour is OK or not, given the levels of batshittery flying around.

"Go pick it up and put it in a bin, littering isn’t ok!"

OP didn't litter.

"Even then I’d think most people would rinse it as they’d need it to dry before putting it in with paper etc (assuming you’ve mixed recycling)"

I've never heard about needing to dry recycling. I rinse it and put it in the bin. I'm thinking of stopping rinsing as well because they're not recycling at the moment.

OP didn't litter.

Yes she did. Regardless of where the cup came from originally, she took it from her property and shoved it into the street.

Pick it up, put in bin and then wash hands.
Please note that the chance of the cup having the virus is utterly tiny as only 0.25% of our population has the virus and it can be mitigated by washing hands. So I would pick it up, put it in the bin and then wash my hands as thoroughly as we are all doing.

Well poking a plastic cup down the street with a stick,is a cool new game to keep you occupied for a while,and not too energetic like hopscotch.

op next time - (OCD at the moment must be hell to deal with) get plastic bag or better still carrier bag (yes I know) or plastic rubbish bag
If the bag is large enough & if your still worried use 2 one inside the other turn them over the bit of rubbish so its inside & you cant touch it that way than straight into bin (that how I picked up cat/dog poo in my garden) alternatively spray cup with disinfectant/antiseptic spray
& wash hands dry & use plenty of moisturizer/hand lotion - I imagine you are washing your hands even more than the rest of us so hand lotion is important

You say 'we' and 'our'. If there are others in your household (not assuming infants) why couldn't you ask them to pick it up and put it in a bin?