Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Five Second Rule

Candy on the floor of the kitchen: do you eat it?

How many of you use the five second rule when it applies to dropped food?


For me, it depends on: 1) what kind of food it was, and; 2) how hungry I am. I'm more likely to pick up an M&M than a slice of cucumber. I guess a third factor would be what the food fell onto. Floor of the kitchen -
sure, no problem. Floor of the movie theater - no thanks. (Even if it was an M&M.)

I read an article this weekend from the Tribune about dirty surfaces. According to a study from the U of Arizona, it turns out your office desk is 400 times dirtier than the average toilet seat. Couple things here:
  1. That has to be a mistake. Somebody writing up the results was drunk (this is the U of A, after all). Or dyslexic (again, U of A).
  2. I'm not putting much credo in this study since U of A is pretty much only good for getting a tan during winter semester and keg stands. Certainly not their scientific studies.
  3. Even if this is true, I would still sooner eat a Dorito that's fallen from my mouth onto my desk than from the rim of a toilet seat. (Although to be clear, I don't see myself eating Doritos at the same time I'm standing in front of the toilet. But moving on.)
Other interesting points from the article include:
  • Dirtiest work spaces come from: teachers, than accountants, then bankers. WTF? What is an accountant doing that's so unsanitary? Any accountant or banker out there who wishes to jump in here, feel free.
  • The kitchen (and not the bathroom) has the most germs of any room in the house (this actually isn't that much of a surprise to me). Sponges and dishcloths are the worst, followed by sink drains, faucet handles and doorknobs.
  • This same U of A study found fecal bacteria in office candy bowls. Now, I'm sorta hoping that they only studied office candy bowls at the U of A (because to me that would make sense).
  • Women are more likely than men to use the 5-second rule.

15 comments:

Alannah said...

I use the 5 second rule. The animals usually get it before then anyway.

LORMO said...

I'll eat off the floor.

I ain't proud.

ryan charisma said...

get on your knees and eat it!

oh that sounds dirty,

I think I like it.

d-town said...

i totally use the 5 second rule. if i'm at home and i drop anything, as long as it doesn't have dirt, dust, or something else on it and i still want to eat it, i will.

if i'm at, say, the airport, or i'm sitting outside on a warm day (like today) eating and i drop something on the ground, well, that's when i may draw the line.

bankers probably have dirty desks because they handle money (at least tellers). money is NASTY. so many times i've gone into conveinece stores or restaurants, been behind a dirty person, have them pay, then when i pay i receive my change in the form of that dirty person's recently paid dollar bills.

whatever, as long as i don't get sick, what the hell does it matter?

Anonymous said...

So...the story behind the photo is????

Given I live with a 4 legged vacuum cleaner there is no chance something even lasts 1 second on the floor so I cannot even assess whether I should be eating it!

classyandfancy said...

I'd eat a peanut M&M off a movie theater floor, a toilet seat, or steal it from someone's mouth. They are my life blood.

Anonymous said...

This is funny, because as I was just stealing one of .25 life crisis kid's carrot stick here at work it fell on the floor. There is no way I'm going to eat that.

chuckdaddy2000 said...

I go by the old "Id anyone around to watch me eat something off the floor" rule

K.I.D. said...

I ain't too proud! 5 second rule is where it's at.

Rambling Canuck said...

Doesn't surprise me about the kitchen sponges - mine reek to high hell.

Kritkrat said...

They obviously didn't use my bathroom to do their study! And my desk may have more germs and shit that a Port-O-Pot at SXSW, but they are my germs damnit! And that makes them less nasty.

Anonymous said...

I don't associate you with slices of cucumber. I just hope it was a for an eye mask?

Anonymous said...

Interesting about that whole "women are more likely thing". Maybe that's because women are more likely to actually lean over to pick it up in the first place? Not saying that all guys have filthy habits, but my husband was the only guy I ever met who scrubbed his kitchen floor the right way...on his knees. Which is why I married him. But anyhoo...

I'm Not Carrie Bradshaw said...

Dude, I so used this rule last night. I was starving after a run and was making a quick quesadilla which i dropped on floor while transferring from the pan to my plate. Hunger won out! And Seattle Boy is an accountant so I'll have to get some insight into why they're so dirrrty.

Gucci Muse said...

Oh hell, if it falls on your kitchen floor, just pick it up and wash it off-haven't died yet-

And to the commenter about the money and the dirty people ahead of you in the pay line- hell yeah, I think about that-and I hate it when I get then dirty crumply money- so gross.