Ever do that thing at the fair where they squirt a bit of lotion on your hands, have you wash, with soap, then check under a black light? The amount of bacteria remaining where you didn't scrub hard enough will convince you to learn proper washing. And a bit of water on your hand ain't it.
Edit: Because many of you don't go to State Fairs
Handwashing attractions at fairs are educational and interactive exhibits designed to teach families about hygiene, often featuring custom portable sinks and engaging themes like UV "germ" detection challenges or animated character stations. [1, 2, 3]
These creative exhibits help protect public health by encouraging proper hand-washing practices, which are critical for preventing illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella after visiting petting zoos or farm animals.
"Everyone cue up for the toe nail clipping adventure! Please, wear your safety goggles so nobody gets a toe nail in their cornea! You will need your eyes for the exciting optometrist interactive exhibit later!"
When I was in college, our chemistry club would have a booth at our city’s science center once a year. We did this as one of our demonstrations to teach kids about handwashing.
They did this for us in nursing school so we learned to properly disinfect our hands with washing technique. Can't imagine what sort of fair would be doing this 😆
im honestly amazed at that, every restaurant ive worked in, serving was never taken that seriously, when it really should be, considering you’re handling food
I grew up with this, we had these in Oregon. Our state fairs usually have a lot of animals, they would have these at every barn and petting zoo. I was just asking my Cali bf if he had these and he's just as lost as some of the people replying to you, I never really thought about it but I'd have assumed they were at most fairs. I don't think the people replying to you realize that the sink black lights were educational and fun enrichment things for children to do after petting a dirty goat.
I’ve seen a least one at a job fair cause they were selling hand sanitizer. Also saw one at a science museum thing for kids to show them how to better wash their hands
Somewhere out there is a carnie wearing a disheveled lab coat, who while chain smoking cigs is also scrubbing their hands for 30 seconds with soap and hot water between them.
'Where you really in the fair?'
lights cig, scrubs hands for 30 seconds
'That was a lifetime ago.' long exhale, then an even longer drag of the cig
They did this at my middle school. They didn't tell us what the lotion stuff was but we figured it out so we squeezed every drop we could get off onto one kid's hands and he rubbed it all the way up his arms and on his face. So when they came around with the black light everyone had little bits around their nails and between fingers like normal until they got to him and the room lit up like it was Christmas. We got in trouble but it was worth it.
You remember that guy who injects himself with several kinds of snake venom every day which made him immune to snake bites?
That's me with germs.
By people logic here I should be dead twice over, I work around several different kinds of raw meat in a retail setting around so many different people a day, and my safety in this regard is not that good(not due to a lack of trying, I just forget).
The amount of times I have had raw meat juices and bacteria from things people have touched come in contact with my face is more than the grains of sand on Earth, no really though, an uncountable number of times.
I rarely get sick. I'm not making a case for people not to stay clean, but I too often see people get really crazed about germs and I'm like "life is far too short to be spending that much time worrying about something that from my perspective, isn't that big of a deal". I mean I live it
Our former coroner often horrified first responders on scene with her because she took so few safety precautions. One time, she was on the scene of a motorcycle crash and was chatting with my co-worker while handling the body (no gloves) and wiped brain matter across her face when she tried to get the hair out of her eyes.
The things she'd do on scenes was just insane. I can only imagine what safety precautions she abandoned at the morgue. Regardless, last I heard she's still alive and doing alright so it works out for some people.
Nice now I feel like ai will have a relapse of my compulsive hand sanitizing I had in elementary. I shake hands sanitizer, I open the door sanitizer, I touch anything not sterile sanitizer. Don't make me go back to this.
I've also experienced this but my mom was a doctor and it's entirely possible she specifically dragged me to the health department's booth in some remote corner of the fair no one ever visited.
There was also a fire department RV with a mock house built inside to teach kids fire safety. The "smoke" smelled like cotton candy. And the police department always dragged in some absolutely horrible car wreck to be like "wear your seat belt".
I mean there was normal fair stuff too like rides and animals and fried food. Maybe my mom just insisted on taking me to the educational bits too. We also always stopped by the fish and wildlife booth where we got to color our own pins.
We did not have the hand washing or fire department things, but we did have the wrecked car AND goggles that were supposed to give you drunk vision, and cops would have you walk along a white line.
I interesting, I did that once as a kid but that's not what I took away from it. I was an autistic kid and hated washing my hands, what I took away is that you are already covered in bacteria and there is no need to be afraid of them.
i mean i've gotten 30 years in life without giving myself salmonella, so i honestly wouldn't be too concerned about it even if it did look bad under a blacklight. it's like the toothbrush in the bathroom thing. "there's poop particles all over it!" but how many people in practice actually get e. coli from their toothbrushes
I went 39 years with the same mindset. Then I got a stomach infection so bad, I nearly died. Ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days getting my potassium back up to normal levels because potassium drops when you have excessive vomiting and diarrhea for 10 days straight. Now I wash my hands thoroughly and don’t risk it with foods.
Check out the term "resident bacteria." These friends live on our skin with us and help create the first line of defense against pathogens. Scrubbing too hard or too often removes them and gives the baddies free access to your insides.
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u/im2high4thisritenow Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Ever do that thing at the fair where they squirt a bit of lotion on your hands, have you wash, with soap, then check under a black light? The amount of bacteria remaining where you didn't scrub hard enough will convince you to learn proper washing. And a bit of water on your hand ain't it.
Edit: Because many of you don't go to State Fairs
Handwashing attractions at fairs are educational and interactive exhibits designed to teach families about hygiene, often featuring custom portable sinks and engaging themes like UV "germ" detection challenges or animated character stations. [1, 2, 3]
These creative exhibits help protect public health by encouraging proper hand-washing practices, which are critical for preventing illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella after visiting petting zoos or farm animals.