I read the following blog entry from Donald Trump - I laughed because I felt very much the same:
Germiest Jobs
by Donald J. Trump
Chairman, Trump University
I don't like germs. That's why I don't like to shake hands. You just never know what that person did with his or her hand right before it was offered to you to shake.
Sometimes in business, however, you can't avoid it. But I'm going to do everything in my power not to shake hands with teachers. According to a new study, teachers have the germiest jobs. They have 17,000 germs per square inch on their desks. That's 10 times the germ rate than any other profession.
Bankers and accountants have the second highest number of germs in their offices because they usually sit at their desks all day. By the way, never borrow a pen from an accountant. Their pens have more germs over any other profession.
The cleanest offices belong to lawyers. That's likely because they're often away from their desks - either in court or playing golf - so germs don't have any reason to develop.
One final germ warning. Avoid touching the first floor button on the elevator. It is absolutely swarming with germs. I think from now on, I'm taking the stairs.
Now, there is no way you can escape shaking someone's hands if they are being offered for a handshake. Unless you have a bad cold, or sound as if you do have one, it is best to take it. Otherwise, the person who offered it will feel awkward, you will feel awkward, and the rest of the meeting you have with the person will be awkward, at best. So what can we do?
1. Do NOT carry an antibacterial sanitizer. This type of product may attribute to creating the superbug - bacterias and viruses that adapt and change survive.
2. After you shake hands, request to visit the washroom before the meeting begins. This way, you get to wash your hands.
3. I've learned this hand washing procedure from a cooking class in Mexico: take 2 paper towels and tuck it into your shirt. turn on the tap, wash your hands with soap. Rub for at least 30 seconds. Use one paper towel to turn off the tap. Use the second paper towel to wipe your hands dry. If you can, carry this paper towel with you to open the doors, the get rid of it in a trash bin outside the washroom.
4. Wash your hands with soap and water, NOT antibacterial soap, for reason stated in #1.
5. It's OK to carry alcohol based hand sanitizer, as it does not create superbugs.
6. Do you absolute best not to rub your nose or touch your eyes with your fingers when you are outside the home. These are places where viruses and bacteria enter the body easily. Of course, wash your hands before you eat.
7. Everyone's *must have's* : a pen, a package of tissue and breath freshener (like gum). These are some common items that people ask of one another. If you have your own, you don't have to risk touch other people's.
Further tips that apply to situations outside shaking hands:
* For kids and teens: these young adults love using one another's lipsticks and lip balms. Please have your children to have a lipbalm of their own, and warn them not to offer it to anyone, not even if they are pressured to. And explain why they should not try other people's make up.
* If you must try make up products at a make up counter, request the products to be sprayed by alcohol before rubbing some on your lips or face. You cannot do much about the eyeshadow but to request the brush to be cleaned. After you get home, take plenty of vitamin C.
If all this sound extreme, just think that even though medicine has *advanced*, the number and types of viruses and bacteria have advanced too. T this day, I still witness in the ladies' room that many people do not wash their hands after going to the toilette, and many more do not wash them properly.
Better to be safe than sorry.
