Pansy Brits Get U.S. Bloggers in Uproar - Filthy Keyboards | Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty in Kentucky

Pansy Brits Get U.S. Bloggers in Uproar - Filthy Keyboards

Published on May 5, 2008 in Health, Research and Technology.

Puh-leeze, a lot of people are freaking out over the headline grabbing, sound biting, “news” that keyboards are dirty.
We are encouraged to clean our keyboards. With what? GermX hand sanitizer makes typing really slippery. Like KY Jelly on your fingers (not that I would know about that.)
Tub and Tile Cleaner spritzed on the keyboard certainly would do the trick, but posts sure do have a lot (more than usual) of typos.

A small study conducted by a British micorbiologist confirmed something we’ve all known - but likely ignored:
KEYBOARDS ARE FILTHY!
In some cases, really filthy, containing five times the level of harmful bacteria (E. coli, staph, oh my!) as a toilet.

I let dogs lick my mouth.
I heartily endorse and support the five minute rule on food (ha, like food on the floor can last more than five seconds with dogs around.)
I eat from sidewalk vendors
I eat at carnivals
I eat at Chinese restaurants

I’m not worried about a little filth on my keyboard. It’s mostly my filth anyway. Note, it’s a “small study.” I bet it was done at the pubic library.

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10 Responses to “Pansy Brits Get U.S. Bloggers in Uproar - Filthy Keyboards”

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1 Gretchen
May 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am

Sure, everything’s a little dirty, but I share your attitude. I don’t even rinse off Boolie’s deedees after they hit the floor, unless there’s visible crap on them.

I firmly believe that you make your kids less resistant to sickness if you insist on sanitizing everything. Ben’s mom is completely horrified that I let the dogs lick the kids’ faces. “Dogs lick their bottoms!” Yet she’ll shoo a fly off her pie and then eat the pie. Stupid. Like the fly wasn’t just climbing through a pile of shit.

Gretchen’s last blog post..This Drives Me Mental.
2 laurie ruettimann
May 5th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Dude, QWERTY disease is gross. Did you read about the keyboards that had to be decontaminated?

Sick stuff. I hope you don’t get MRSA or the drug-resistant staph from your keyboard!
laurie ruettimann’s last blog post..Your Computer Keyboard is a Toilet
3 goinglikesixty
May 5th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

@Gretchen: I HATE maggots. Nothing grosses me out worse than maggots. Heeeeeeeby-Jeeeeeeby.
@Laurie Ruettimann: I thought you were lost to Facebook forever. I’ll have to check out your place to see what MRSA is. And I didn’t read about the Great Keyboard Decontamination of 2008. I did read on Lifehacker that you can actually put your keyboard in the dishwasher.
4 Krissi
May 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

“I let dogs lick my mouth… I heartily endorse and support the five minute rule on food (ha, like food on the floor can last more than five seconds with dogs around.)… I eat from sidewalk vendors… I eat at carnivals… I eat at Chinese restaurants…”

Ha, and if you’re anything like me you do at least half of those in front of your keyboard and/or with some other device (cell phone? PDA?) that also has a keyboard.

Krissi’s last blog post..Bloggy Giveaway Winners!
5 Edna
May 6th, 2008 at 1:55 am

It’s my hands that I have to keep clean not my keyboard. At least my keyboard is from my own dirty fingers.

Edna’s last blog post..My Baby’s Birthday
6 GoingLikeSixty
May 6th, 2008 at 7:11 am

@Krissi: yes, that happens a LOT in front of a keyboard, you’re right.

@Edna: right! I’m glad I don’t use a keyboard where strangers might use it also. That could be yucky.

GoingLikeSixty’s last blog post..Pansy Brits Get U.S. Bloggers in Uproar - Filthy Keyboards
7 BearNaked
May 6th, 2008 at 12:06 pm

The only time I REALLY cleaned my keyboard was when I inadvertently
spilled a large Double Double coffee on it.

I still can’t talk about the time I fried my modem with a glass of white wine. (oops)

BearNaked’s last blog post..Serious topic–Hot Flashes
8 Winston
May 7th, 2008 at 5:19 am

It appears that even you have your limits, at least by omission from your list. You did not include Mexican restaurants, so they must be off the bottom of your scale. Some of those little hole in the wall tacorias are filthy, as are the fine folks who work there and cook and bring your beans to you. They usually don’t last long because the health dept shuts them down. But they move down the street and do it all over again.

The dirty keyboard (and mouse) story is not new. We’ve known it for years. Word is just now getting across the North Atlantic. Being in the support business, I touch dozens of keyboards and mice each week. Got a small bottle of Purell or such in every pocket and service bag and storage nook of my car. And I use it regularly.

Winston’s last blog post..Rough Sleepers…
9 goinglikesixty
May 7th, 2008 at 6:58 am

@Winston: Correctomundo! I don’t eat in tacorias either. In our town, it’s the China buffets that have difficulty staying open. Have you ever run into somebody like Laurie, who won’t let tech support touch the keyboard?
10 David Leonhardt
Jul 25th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

I thought it was a five second rule with food. Thanks for giving me 60 times re leeway.
And I touch door handles without wiping them.

And I take back my credit card from cashiers.

And I walk on the deck at the public pool.

And I pick heavenly raspberries right off the bushes (this is week four!) without washing them.

And…

David Leonhardts last blog post..Google Cache Gets Style