Dear Donna

Dear Donna,
I work in a relatively small office with about 18 co-workers. None of the men in our office (and when I say none, I mean NONE) wash their hands after using the restroom. How can I politely drop the hint that...IT'S DISGUSTING? They leave the bathroom and then try to hand me paperwork or borrow my pencil. What am I to do?
Thanks,
Soapy in SC

Dear Soapy,

Before I say anything, I must ask how you KNOW the men are not washing their hands. Cause Soapy I know you're a gal. We'll save that conversation for another day and I'll get back to bettering the lives of my 4 readers.

This question gets two thumbs up from me…two CLEAN thumbs if you’re wondering. Babies cause a mama to participate in more hand washing that one could imagine.

I remember a time, back when I was in the corporate workforce, a similar situation was faced. (Well, I’m not certain DFCS is considered corporate. In fact, it’s probably more along the lines of manual labor, so it’s an even better example due to the higher level of grossness.) Anywho, we had an issue with the bathrooms. To leave everyone in great suspense, I’m going to remain vague, but a co-worker made a ginormous poster with a stop light on red asking the bathroom users to STOP their messy behavior.

It was ineffective and crude. But oh so funny. And since I wasn’t truly in the corporate workforce, years later this fellow employee is now a supervisor. So there’s option #1. Be bold and offensive and maybe you’ll get a promotion.

The CDC’s website offers options #2 and #3.

Here is a fun story you could post in all bathrooms regarding the beginnings of hand-washing:
“Over 150 years ago….Dr. Semmelweis worked in a hospital in Vienna whose maternity patients were dying at such an alarming rate that they begged to be sent home. Most of those dying had been treated by student physicians who worked on corpses during an anatomy class before beginning their rounds in the maternity ward.
Because the students did not wash their hands effectively between touching the dead and the living–handwashing was an unrecognized hygienic practice at the time–pathogenic bacteria from the corpses regularly were transmitted to the mothers via the students' hands."

Ew. Ew. Ew.

And if you prefer to address individuals, rather than the masses, you can send a sweet lil’ E-Card from the CDC’s website. It is truly unfortunate I cannot effectively provide a direct link or show the hilarious photo for the “Wash ‘Em” card.

Please travel to the CDC's website in your spare time. The E-Cards are, in the words of Rachel Zoe, "buh-nanas."

My final idea is to spread false rumors about swine flu going around your office, as I found a website that encourages us to, “Tell co-workers to wash their hands and sneeze into their arms. Swine flu is rapidly spreading because men and women across the nation don’t regularly wash their hands nor sneeze into their arms.”

Soapy, I hope you find success and cleanliness through these ideas. If all else fails, just wear these germ killing gloves that have recently been created. I’m sure no one will notice.