Getting a handle on it

It's been a few days so time for another grumpy whinge to brighten your day.

I'm not sure if this is a gender specific complaint, but one thing that has always bugged me is the handles on doors when you leave the toilet. Toilets are a pretty grim place at the best of times so it's important to wash your hands after whatever you may have just done in the loo.

My problem comes after you've washed your hands, dried them and then go to leave. Most toilets have some kind of looped handle that, for me, is the perfect breeding ground for germs. Not everyone dries their hands fully (although the new powerful hand dryers help) so people put their damp hands on the handle. This means that me, with my lovely clean and dry hands, then get damp and dirty hands straight away. Most unpleasant.

Now, this problem is bad enough is you assume that everybody who uses the toilet cleans their hands to the same impeccable standard as I do. I know that this is not the case. It amazes me that people, even at work, don't wash their hands. Some argue that they prefer not to as the know where their bits have gone so they don't feel the need to touch other surfaces or soap or whatever. This is rubbish. Total rubbish, as infections in hospitals from airborne germs prove.

As with most of my complaints, I have a solution and it's dead simple. Change the way toilet doors are hung. If you had to pull a handle on the way in, it doesn't matter! Hands are dry and the handle won't be wet. You can push to leave, meaning no nasty surprises. Swing doors and automatic sliding doors would also work.