I travel for my job, so I have to use public bathrooms most of the week and sleep in hotels most nights. I definitely wash my hands a lot and also use a paper towel to open the door handle of the bathroom exit. Even using the keyboards on the library computers is icky. At least I am no longer working in a hospital, as I did years ago, taking care of the plants. People would spit into the potting soil, throw their gum and food, dump their soda cups in, etc. Lots of sick germs I had to be deal with in the hospital foliage. I am much healthier now that I'm not in that environment. I had a staph infection on my hand when I was a kid that I picked up from somewhere at school. Yes, there are benign germs but there are those germs that can make you sick or kill you. Better to be safe and wash your hands. Even ties that doctors wear have been shown to pick up germs and spread them to patients. Most doctors now are aware they should not wear a tie. If kids in school washed their hands more we wouldn't have such a bad cold and flu season every year.