to wash my hands every time I've been out?

[itsallsohard]

Since the pandemic, I have taken to washing my hands as soon as I come in the house from outside. Obviously perhaps if I've been on public buses, or gardening; but also if I've just been out in my own car, or to the grocery store. None of us in the family is especially prone to illness or to worrying, and before the pandemic (unless someone in the family was actually sick) we all just washed hands after using the toilet and before cooking or eating.

Is it really disgusting that I didn't do this before 2020? Or is it a bit OCD that I do it now? I genuinely can't decide. YABU = that's too much hand-washing. YANBU = sounds normal, we do too
(edited to try to get rid of some rogue strike-outs of whole lines...)

Pretty much this except I'm immunocompromised but have a stomach of steel. My dad swears it's down to all the horse related stuff I ingested in my life

Wasn't told to wash my hands when I got home so it never became a habit. If I washed my hands every time I stroked the cat they would be raw!

But that would happen anyway
If you touch a clothes rail, door, anything while you're out. Maybe get a drink or put a mint in your mouth. If I was shopping in town I would rub my eye or move a stray hair from sticking to lip gloss, put a mint in my mouth etc without thinking I needed to wash my hands first

You would have to sanitise your hands every few minutes then before getting in your car, then wash them when you get home

I always wash my hands when entering my home.

I manage to stay aware when outside of my house, and then when I get home I wash my hands (like a normal person).

No, it's not what you said, as you were too busy mocking me - but it is what you are effectively doing. Also, urine.

I just wouldn't even think about it
If I'm on a day out or a shopping trip I'm not going to think to wash my hands before absentmindedly rubbing my eye or mouth
But then I don't wash fruit or veg either (except gritty stuff like leeks)

No, everyone doesn't take their shoes off as soon as they get home. I don't know anyone who does. Some of you seem to lead very sheltered lives!

And yet some of us who frequently use hand dryers rarely get ill!

I've never heard anyone in my whole life express horror over a hand dryer, and I see plenty of people using them.

Yep, couldn't care less. As I've already mentioned, I've never had covid and rarely get sick. My last cold was over a year ago. Some of you must spend half your lives washing your hands!!

I am about to go to a cafe with a friend - should I rush from her car to the bathroom to wash my hands before I sit down, just in case? What happens if I touch the table and it hasn't been wiped since the last person sat there - should I rush back to the bathroom? Where does it end?

I like to have clean hands. I always wash mine after I’ve been out. Normal.

I walk in my front door, put down my bags or whatever, and wash my hands. It ends there. Hardly arduous.

Don't even wait til I get home, sanitiser in the car. Even years before pandemic, I carried hand sanitiser from working in a shared environment with multiple people using the same keyboards and phones.

I don't wash my hands everytime I pet my cat though, but I do after scooping the poops.

Regular handwashing is normal. What wasn't normal was needing to teach grown adults to wash their hands during a pandemic.

Sheltered lives? To take my shoes off at the door?

OK 😂

That's even worse - trampling shit into someone else's house!

Everyone I know does. It must depend on your social circle and perhaps class?

I walk in and out my front door numerous times a day. I don't wash my hands, I rarely get sick, so why should I? What exactly is it going to achieve? Maybe some of us just have robust immune systems and don't see the point.

I do this too, it's how I was brought up. I also remove my shoes. YANBU.

Do you work in an office or use public transport?

People who wash when you come in, do you not ever touch your face, mouth, eyes, nose etc WHILE you're out??? Including eating a kitkat or whatever on the bus etc. Also do you ever use your phone indoors? Because that probably has all the 'germs' on it too.

Another person here who washes hands before and after cooking, after the toilet and anytime they're actually dirty. And who gets sick significantly less often than other people I know. And I work with small children who are renowned for being disgusting on tge cleanliness front.

Good one! Sorry to burst your bubble but I don't live in the UK, we don't have your ridiculous "class" system here, and the people I know are from many different walks of life. Only the uptight - or maybe people with very pale carpets - insist on shoes off. Obviously there will be some people who don't like shoes indoors but the majority don't seem to care, and we're not too precious to get the hoover out.

I try not to touch my face. I'm good at it.

I don't put my hands in my mouth or directly touch food I'm going to eat if I haven't washed my hands.

I wipe my phone down once a day with anti bac

Do you have dog shit where you live?

Always !!
Plus we do t wear out outdoor clothes in the home for long...
Ie been to local cafe and walk as soon as come home we put on comfy clothes that are not worn outside.

I used to work in an office, and still do occasionally. We don't have public transport in my town, but if we did I wouldn't be washing my hands after using it. I've also never washed my hands after a supermarket visit, and I'm there several times each week.

I have always washed my hands as soon as I come home, not a Covid thing, just something I have always done,