Whadaya know, another survey concludes that women wash their hands before leaving restrooms more often than men. Can that really be true?

Apparently, according to results of the latest Hand Washing Survey, released recently at a scientific meeting in Chicago by the American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association. The survey found that although 89% of men claim in a telephone poll to wash their hands every time they use a public bathroom, only 66% were seen doing so. The survey found that women outwash men but also overstate their cleanliness: While 96% say they always wash their hands in a public restroom, 88% of women were actually seen doing so.

The research is based on reports from investigators with Harris Interactive who were deployed to hang around public bathrooms, trying to look inconspicuous while covertly counting how many people washed up. In all, 6,076 people were observed, 3,065 men and 3,011 women, in bathrooms at six sites: Turner Field in Atlanta; the Museum of Science and Industry and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago; Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal in New York, and the Ferry Terminal Farmers Market in San Francisco. Link

So you think your job is bad? Wanna bet it’s the new guys at Harris that pull this disgusting duty?

Which leads me to this unrelated but curiously interesting photo I got from Perr-Bear. I don’t know its origin, but if I were a betting man (and I am) I’d say this is a social experiment in Japan or China aimed at encouraging men to wash their hands more often after using the facility. Like many similar ideas from our Asian neighbors, I doubt this one will work, at least here in the States. (Hmmmm…Maybe San Francisco…) Think about it; the idea is to get clean, but… Well, you get the idea.