It's quite weird, actually. I'm OCD about a lot of things, but germs are not part of that. Of course, I wash my hands, I scrub down cooking utensils, et cetera. But you're not going to see me opening doors with a hand-towel. I'm not going to refrain form picking up my pets just because they're dirty. When it comes to germs, I figure the amount that are beneficial or at least harmless far outweigh those that can make you sick. I take the approach of "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
So this shit makes me nuts- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqchsFwhSNQ&feature=player_embedded.
That's right- a hands-free soap dispenser. I mean, how dumb can you get? On the website for this stupid little tower of plastic, they even have a troubleshooting section.
Troubleshooting.
We're trying to turn our hand-soap into an electronic. This is insane, people. Why do we need to complicate soap? I mean, think about it. The only time we use soap is when we are about to wash our hands. Who cares how dirty the soap pump is; we're about to wash all the germs away, anyway. Not to mention, unless you have an automatic sink, you'll be touching the knobs, anyway, which defeats the purpose.
It's not even water-proof. Why would anyone make an electronic product that sits next to a sink all day and can't even stand up to water?
Not to mention the amount of money you're going to have to spend on this puppy. It requires four AA batteries. You have to replace the soap periodically, and those little refill cartridges aren't cheap, either. This is an investment that generates money long after you've bought the product. It's the reverse of what any rational consumer wants in a recession- instead of paying for itself, it only costs more as it ages.
It's nuts. I can't think of any situation where this would be a wise purchase. One review suggests that perhaps you are trying to re-create the hands-free experience of a public restroom. In that case, does the dispenser come with a decal I can stick to the wall that looks like a stall door? And how about an audio track of people doing there business, so you won't feel alone, just like in a public restroom. I'm just going for authenticity, here.
It has all kinds of things that can go wrong. It's like the new iPhone- if you hold it incorrectly when you pick it up, it malfunctions. If you let soap build up around the nozzle, it will malfunction. If you don't switch it off before moving it, it malfunctions. One review sites one possible use as being for a cook, so you don't have to handle raw meat and then touch the soap dispenser. But you'll still be washing your hands, so it doesn't matter.
The reasons some will buy this is that we, as a collective society, are afraid of germs. Think about it. What is the point of an automatic toilet? You'll just wash your hands, anyway. People carry around hand sanitizer. I mean, people started wearing face masks because they were afraid of the pig sniffles, which don't actually protect you much from germs.
The truth is, our fear of germs makes us willing to invest in false senses of security. It doesn't seem to matter whether or not it's actually reducing the germs, just as long as we feel like we're staying cleaner.
Germs are not bad. A few of them are, but proportionally, they're outweighed. We would not be able to live without the beneficial germs living in our systems.
And seriously? Troubleshooting for a freaking soap dispenser? Give me a break. Soap doesn't need to be complicated. It shouldn't be complicated. Chemistry is complicated. Calculus is complicated. Washing your hands is not complicated.
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