[ENFP] ENFP: Lack of Fear of Germs?

[CzeCze]

Everyone is idiosyncratic and has their own definitions of cleanliness.

When it comes to me touching other people (make-up/hair) or their food, I'm very conscientious as I feel responsible. I wash my hands and change gloves upon touching 'contaminants', I use disposable applicators and actually dispose of them after 1 use, I don't double dip, I do use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not readily available.

My idiosyncrasy is that I'm very aware of all the germs crawling over public surfaces like door handles, telephone receivers, faucets. I try to use a napkin to turn the faucet off and open the restroom door upon exiting (or else use my pinky).

I greatly prefer not to share utensils or drinks with people -- I'm all about cooties this way. I would also NEVER grab ANYTHING or even sort through the garbage can, I don't care if the garbage can is 'new' or if it was only there for 5 seconds.

BUT -- otherwise, yeah I probably do (or don't) do things that make others cringe.

EX 1: I like dogs so I don't mind doggie slobber (I'm not gonna french my dog though ) I once had to reach into a dog's mouth at a picnic (didn't know the dog) to get chicken bones out of its mouth lest it choke. My friend laughed at me because she thought it was gross -- and she's the one who gave the bones to the dog!

EX 2: I LOVE street food and is one thing I look forward to when travelling abroad. I'll eat food that's been sitting out. I eat at a lot of hole in the wall restaurants -- those generally have questionable sanitation. I used to live in a country where Hepatitis C is common (through saliva i.e. sharing food, utensils) and now autoclaves are common sights at fast food joints.

Overall I have a pretty strong stomach, and I agree, if it doesn't kill you it'll make you stronger. The acids in your stomach kill most cooties, yes? I rarely get sick, maybe 1x a year. Your body needs a chance to build up antibodies. And as long as no one is PURPOSELY doing something disgusting to my food, I'm pretty okay being oblivious.

 

[arcticangel02]

Is it that ENFPs aren't scared enough or that everyone else is too scared?

Targo is correct in that ENTPs are as bad if not worse than them in this. I'm no exception, and I never get sick. Ever. Perhaps not washing your hands deprives your immune system of 'target practice' as it were, eliminating opportunity to develop and perfect a system of antibodies.

But, I'm not biologist.

I tend to agree. I get sick very rarely - maybe once a year with the sniffles. And that's it.

But I don't usually take any particular caution with germs and such (although I'm a clean enough person), except for specific situations like when I'm at work and some person who is sniffling and sneezing and so OBVIOUSLY ILL wipes their nose on their hand before handing me their credit card. Eww. I feel disgusted and vow to wash my hands before I go and have lunch that day. (Except I have, to date, never remembered to do this.)

I also have a couple of habits (like not putting my handbag on the floor of the bathroom and not using the hot blowdryer after washing my hands - instead wiping them on my clothes!!) that are slightly cleanly, I suppose, but nothing obsessive.

Don't care about sharing food, or even drink. No biggie. I also don't pay particular attention to food that's fresh or not when ordering - it could have been sitting out all day. *shrug* And I totally kiss my cat all the time, or let him slobber on me. He does have fish breath, though.

I do tend to believe that most of the world is too scared about things like this.

 

[Vortex]

So happy people enjoyed the spider story

After seeing all the other ENFP answers I'm finding several things to agree with.

Despite being a bit of a slob according to 'normal' standards, I am amazingly popular at muddy multiple-day festivals, since I bring insane amounts of hand sanitizer, sanitizing tissues, normal tissues, plasters and stuff like that with me everywhere (something the average beer-drinking guy doesn't). This might just be because I'm a girly makeup-obsessed freak, though

Heh, and I never get sick after eating the same things as someone else who does get food poisoning. It does indeed pay to attack your immune system with questionable food regularly.

 

[shen]

I once walked out of a bathroom with an ENFP. we were in africa. africa, in case you did not know, is very dirty. i went to wash my hands, she went to walk out.

i called her on it. "aren't you going to wash your hands?!"

she shrugs, answers, "it's not like I peed all over them" and continues to walk out.


(at least if you get caught wash your hands. aarugh.)

its because we love them and couldn't hurt them ....*sigh*

 

[thirtyshackles]

Germs are people too! Hehe, this thread cracks me up. I eat others' half-eaten leftovers all the time, and stuff from the floor. So long as it ain't dirt-crunchy and gross, or moldy, who cares!

Although, it's worth noting that I doubted the existence of germs until I saw 'em under a microscope. If I don't perceive something, it isn't real; what I see, rather, is a perfectly good sandwich in need of dusting.

 

[samIam]

Germs are people too! Hehe, this thread cracks me up. I eat others' half-eaten leftovers all the time, and stuff from the floor. So long as it ain't dirt-crunchy and gross, or moldy, who cares!

Although, it's worth noting that I doubted the existence of germs until I saw 'em under a microscope. If I don't perceive something, it isn't real; what I see, rather, is a perfectly good sandwich in need of dusting.

I know some people like that. They are brave people.

I won't eat any leftovers that are older than a day. Even then it has to be completely sealed in an airtight container.

One thing I will admit is strange. I won't finish a sandwich that I have put down on my plate for more than 30 seconds. Because I will have to examine it when I pick it back up and I will see teeth marks I get kind of sick. It only works for sandwiches and I don’t know why.

I can't drink milk or dairy after anyone not even my wife. I can drink most anything else after my wife but not milk. It's gross.

I can never eat anything a child has handed me.

I can't eat after anyone. Not in a box, not with a fox, not in a tree. Never!

Once a girlfriend stuck her gum in my mouth while we kissed. I puked.

I kick bathroom doors open with my feet for fear of whats someone has left behind. If I can't get through without a kick I search for a paper towel to open it with. Then if that happens I am constantly wondering if any particles from a flush could have contaminated the paper towel. I will feel better only after I find some other place to wash my hands.

I've never counted but I'm sure I wash my hands 20 times a day.

 

[shen]

haha, you T's are sooo funny!

I always appologize before i wash my hands, I think germs love me too, I am rarely ill, and when I'm bad, enjoying the lazy days in bed being waited on hand and foot, after i get fed up, I politely mention for them it's now ok to leave and move on....
and they do.

 

[Maverick]

Every ENFP I know is very laid back when it comes to eating stuff of the floor, washing their hands, etc.

Why do you not fear germs like a normal person? Is this just a trend in the small number of ENFPs I know?

Hey, I don't care about eating stuff from the floor!

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Supposing you get ill... so what? You're building your immune system!

I absolutely do not care about eating whatever comes from who's mouth or whoever has touched it. Look, I'm still alive an healthy! Yay!

Besides, very interesting experiments have been done on eating food from the floor of a university campus. Guess what? It didn't change anything really!

 

[samIam]

Guess what? It didn't change anything really!

I'm having trouble with this. I'm not sure if I understand the meaning here.

If the sentence was meant to mean that nothing changed and the "really" was added to emphasize that nothing changed. I would be skeptical.

If the really was to indicate that not much changed then its the not much that worries me.

I know I’m not the only person to have this conversation before about hand washing but just in case you have never been through it let me give an example of what happened to me once.

I knew a guy that never washed his hands and on this day we happened to go to the restroom at the same time so I know he wasn't suddenly stricken with a need to be hygienic. He left without washing his hands again.

We walked to the break room where we met with another co-worker already sitting down. The first guy went to the vending machine and returned with a bag of M & M's and offered the other co-worker some of the M & M's he poured into his hand.

I tried to signal to the guy with my eyes that it was a bad idea but he didn't notice. When he offered me some M & M's I lied and told him I didn't like them. He asked "Didn't I see you eating some yesterday?"

Still wanting to be polite I said "Nope. Must have been someone else. I don't like M & Ms. Never had, Never will."

"Yeah I did. I know you were because I saw you. What? You don't want it because I touched it?"

"No, I just didn't want any."

"Then why did you say you didn't like M & M's"

I mean I didn't want to say anything. I just didn't want to be force fed these M & Ms. I appreciate the fact that he wanted to share and I didn't mean to offend the guy but I didn't want to eat that M & M. I searched around my head trying to avoid saying what the real reason was. I knew it was going to put him on the defensive and hurt his feeling a little but I just couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Because... To be honest I happened to see that you didn't wash your hands when you were in the bathroom." Which caused my friend that was sitting with me to spit the M & M he was chewing out of his mouth.


I was willing to let it drop there. All he had to do was leave it alone. But I knew it was going to come to this when he started sharing. So I already knew what his next sentence would be.

"So. I didn't pee on my fingers."

"Ok. Let me put it this way. Do you like chocolate cake? "

"Yes"

"Would you eat a piece of chocolate cake if I offered it to you while carrying it on top of my dick?"

"Hell no!"

"And I don't want eat M & Ms served with one either."

I still don't know how that doesn't change the mind of someone.

 

[Sandy]

Thankfully she retired a couple of years ago...

We had a woman in my office that never washed her hands after she used the bathroom. I would put signs up all over and still nothing. *hello?*

During holidays, she would bring food in along with the rest of us. Those who knew she never washed her hands would NEVER eat what she brought in, and of course, there were those who just didn't care.

The thing is, she always had so much left over, so she would try to push it on everyone. What she brought in always looked so good, but I could never bring myself to try it, so I would just politely refuse... saying that I was getting full.

She also had this hacking cough, thoughtfully covering her mouth with her hands. I figured her hands were just filled with those nasty germs!

 

[CzeCze]

I take it back and I am sooooo pissed right now.

One thing that I cannot abide re: sanitation or germ wise is animal doo-doo.

No thank you.

I just discovered tonight from my inebriated brother that his new dog has poo-ed in my room not just once, or twice, but at least THREE times on my wool Indian rug! And the last time apparently my brother didn't clean it completely or at all. He never told me any of this so I threw all my clothes on the floor (where the DOO DOO was) to clear off my bed and I slept in that room the last time I stayed over. THAT'S FUCKING DISGUSTING!



I was so pissed when he told me tonight that I found and picked up the remaining offensive remnants of doggie excrement with wads of tissue paper and threw it in his room. And of course, washed thoroughly afterwards. I told him if I find anything like that ever again in the house I would put it on his pillow and not tell him either. I tried to tell his dog not to do that again, but his dog just tried to eat the evidence.



I also threw EVERYTHING on the floor in the wash. I'm so disgusted and pissed off about that, because neither the clothes in question nor the rug are 'wash and wear' and mostly meant to be handwashed. And even after I wash them, they will be forever TAINTED in my mind.



To clarify, it's my room at my parents house and I have my own place elsewhere but that is still MY room with my stuff in it! And again -- THAT IS DISGUSTING. Just thinking of all the pathogens I must have inhaled last night makes me want to gag.



At first I was also really pissed at his dog but I realize the anger was misdirected. Razzin frazzin brothers...

 

[arcticangel02]

I tried to tell his dog not to do that again, but his dog just tried to eat the evidence.

HAH. *giggles for ten minutes*

But more seriously, that's not nice.

 

[DynamicG]

I'll vouch that I have very little fear of germs. I mean I'll have the "that's kinda gross" conversation with myself in my head. But with most food it ends up "That's kinda gross...but I bet it tastes good...I'll go ahead and eat it"

My office mate just kinda laughs when I use any ink pen off my desk to stir my coffee.

I do however, always wash up with soap and water after the bathroom and before I cook food for other people.

 

[TaylorS]

I find the fear of germs by a large % of people to be ridiculous. It's a fusion of the "just having a partial knowledge of something can be dangerous" effect with various irrational "purity" taboos.

Nearly all microbes that are all around us are perfectly harmless. Hell, we all have Strep bacteria in our mouths and Staph bacteria on our skin that are normally harmless, and our intestines need E. coli so we get Vitamin K. As long as you wash your hands reasonably often, cook your food thoroughly, and keep your home reasonably clean one should be fine, being obsessive about germs doesn't help much because of the Law of Diminishing Returns, and can even be counter productive. For example, anti-bacterial soaps can cause bacteria to become resistant to whatever antibiotic agent is in the soap, and one theory in the increase in the incidence of Asthma in recent years is that parents are so obsessed about protecting their kids from germs and other "dangers" that kids' immune systems don't develop the tolerance to common irritants in the environment.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

Every ENFP I know is very laid back when it comes to eating stuff of the floor, washing their hands, etc.

Why do you not fear germs like a normal person? Is this just a trend in the small number of ENFPs I know?

I'm a little ENFPish, and I def will eat shit off the floor. I ain't afraid of no germ! *cue Ghostbusters theme*

 

[SillySapienne]

I wash my hands only when they actually feel dirty.

I'm sensitive to scents, and am grossed out by things that smell vile.

As far as germs go, their microscopic size along with their omnipresence allow me to accept that my immune system/luck will aid me against infection far more than the illusion of sterilizing my environment will.

In fact, I am of the sentiment that a good dose of exposure to germs helps to boost one's immune system.

 

[Athenian200]

To offer another NF perspective on germs:

I'm kind of mixed about germs. I do wash my hands after touching (or even just being near) anything that seemed gross (which I usually avoid), but I don't do so as a ritual throughout the day.

I may eat food off the floor if it looks clean enough, only after inspecting it, and no one else is looking. The absorbency of the food, the part that touched the floor (sometimes I discard it), and the feeling I get from looking at the food and the floor all play a role in whether I feel comfortable eating something that's fallen on the floor.

I don't try hard to sterilize things with disinfectant or anything, though I do try to keep things picked up and presentable.

 

[arcticangel02]

I wash my hands only when they actually feel dirty.

I'm sensitive to scents, and am grossed out by things that smell vile.

As far as germs go, their microscopic size along with their omnipresence allow me to accept that my immune system/luck will aid me against infection far more than the illusion of sterilizing my environment will.

In fact, I am of the sentiment that a good dose of exposure to germs helps to boost one's immune system.

Exactly my thoughts!

 

[CzeCze]

I'll vouch that I have very little fear of germs. I mean I'll have the "that's kinda gross" conversation with myself in my head. But with most food it ends up "That's kinda gross...but I bet it tastes good...I'll go ahead and eat it"

My office mate just kinda laughs when I use any ink pen off my desk to stir my coffee.

I do however, always wash up with soap and water after the bathroom and before I cook food for other people.

Not really so much a germ thing but a personal levels thing -- I'll eat most anything, including food so fresh it fights with you on the way down. When I watch that show 'Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman', a lot of the time I"m like yeah I'd eat that. What, is that 'bizarre'?

What is and isn't considered 'gross' as far as what you put into your bodies is highly subjective and based on culture and personally familiarity. I find a lot of English language 'gross food lists' to be pretty culturallly chauvinistic. I'm neither a picky nor a close minded eater,relatively speaking

I dunno, I'm sure this is related to ENFP somehow, I would guess that ENFP lends itself to being pretty open-minded about food. I never even had a problem eating 'vegetables' as a kid. I like vegetables.

 

[Conill]

Well, I'm an INFP, and I eat stuff of the floor all the time
Especially if it's something sweet

But I always wash my hands after going to toilet, couldn't forget even if I tried. But otherwise I don't mind dirt and stuff.