Things Adult Men Do That I Don't Understand...

[Superfluous J]

44 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

A (ironically): As children, we have been taught to wash the hands after the toilet.

F (calmly): As children, we have been taught to not (liquid) on the hands.

A (laughing) As children, we have been taught that there are more reasons to wash something than "I accidentally (liquid)ed on it."

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

I think there is a danger to the over-washing.  Okay, danger is perhaps not the correct word - but you can read dermatologist-written papers about how the skin has natural ways of keeping itself clean, fighting infection and that good old soap and water damage that.

So - once you start washing, you have to keep washing because you've gotten rid of the natural defenses and must rely upon the external.  Then you also need to apply some kind of lotion to keep the skin 'healthy' - which traps dirt and bacteria - and again need the soap and water to clean all that off... it's a cycle.

But when you look around the world at people and places where the 'soap and water, regularly throughout the day' thing isn't feasible... 

I don't know.

I've been to some pretty gross places - and in those places really stringently followed the 'wash hands before eating' thing, but otherwise washing for any other reason (aside from after downloading used food) wasn't practical, and nothing bad happened.  The locals all have some very interesting taboos, that when you break it down are health related.  Don't show the bottom of your feet in a place where you have a lot of animals everywhere and basically spend the day walking through fertilizer.  Don't put your feet on furniture - and certainly not the table.  Don't use a utensil that has hit the ground (really, outside of NA & EU and a few other places... DON'T!)  Don't shake or touch someone with your wiping hand.  Don't eat pork (mind you, I love bacon, but there's a reason 'Desert People' have this taboo).

Being 'too clean' is a very WEIRD thing, and it has some negative effects:

Is it possible to be too clean? - Vital Signs - UCLA Health - Los Angeles, CA

Quote

babies and young children who live in very clean environments may be more likely to develop allergies, allergic skin conditions and inflammatory bowel disorders. “The less diverse your microbes are, the more prone you are to diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and allergies,” Dr. Garcia Lloret says. “The new understanding is that we require microbial diversity to thrive.”

 

If being too clean makes us sick, why isn't getting dirty the solution? (theconversation.com)

Quote

 

Biodiversity is the real issue

What we actually have is a biodiversity problem. Our clean, indoor-centered lives and a Western diet rich in processed foods have depleted our biomes – the bacteria and worms that naturally live in our bodies, our guts in particular. These organisms play a role in the development and regulation of our immune systems, and scientists have identified the loss of biodiversity as being central to the high rates of inflammatory disease in the developed world.

 

...

This link (above) is a quite good article.  Important to note: if you are WERID - you kind of need to stay WEIRD:

Quote

 

Our loss of contact with the soil due to indoor working environments has further depleted the wildlife of our bodies. And the typical Western diet doesn’t help either.

Even if you were to never use soap again for the rest of your life, you would not recover the wildlife your body is missing. Many of the lost organisms of our body don’t exist in North America in the wild, and others you simply won’t come across in your daily life.

On top of tremendous social difficulties imposed by a lack of soap, you’d likely increase your exposure to a lot of aggravating and even dangerous germs. The bacteria and viruses deposited on your shopping cart handle or the light switch at a hotel are generally not good. Those are often the germs of modern society that cause infection and inflammation. Your immune system would remain inflamed, and perhaps be even more agitated than before.

 

 

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

 

[TheSaint]

10 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

(The old ethnic joke. The nations are replaced with nicknames.)

Two men, of nations A and F, have done their deeds in the restroom, and then come to the wash basin.

The A starts diligently washing his hands with soap.

The F starts diligently adjusting his tie at the mirror.

A (ironically): As children, we have been taught to wash the hands after the toilet.

F (calmly): As children, we have been taught to not (liquid) on the hands.

I always heard it with a sailor and a Marine. I'm sure @JoeSchmuckatelli heard that one too, although possibly with some roles reversed....

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

14 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

I always heard it with a sailor and a Marine. I'm sure @JoeSchmuckatelli heard that one too, although possibly with some roles reversed....

Marines take care of our uniforms.  Always clean and spiffy.  

[MKI]

This reminds me of listening to a local radio station, where 2 of the 3 hosts where talking about how they don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom in their own home. Regardless of what sort of deed they did.

The third host (and me) was aghast with the idea these people basically never washed their own hands after going to the bathroom under any circumstances. With their reasoning to that "its my house, its cleaner than a public restroom". 

 

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

7 hours ago, MKI said:

This reminds me of listening to a local radio station, where 2 of the 3 hosts where talking about how they don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom in their own home. Regardless of what sort of deed they did.

The third host (and me) was aghast with the idea these people basically never washed their own hands after going to the bathroom under any circumstances. With their reasoning to that "its my house, its cleaner than a public restroom". 

 

 

Yeah, I'm mildly horrified by that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(It's my house; and I take care of myself and the people who live here)

[Spacescifi]

Something less egregious that I don't understand is why men get upset when a football team loses (any team really).

 

If they are losing money on a bet I understand. Otherwise not at all.

 

But then again... I was more a scifi watching, gaming guy in my youth than a guy who watched or followed sports anyway.

 

That said. I always would care far more about a sports game I played than one I watched.

Since winning or losing directly depended on me then... to some extent.

 

Probably good I missed the rise of PVP online.... would have been brutal.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Spacescifi

[Nuke]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:16 PM, Spacescifi said:

Something less egregious that I don't understand is why men get upset when a football team loses (any team really).

 

If they are losing money on a bet I understand. Otherwise not at all.

 

But then again... I was more a scifi watching, gaming guy in my youth than a guy who watched or followed sports anyway.

 

That said. I always would care far more about a sports game I played than one I watched.

Since winning or losing directly depended on me then... to some extent.

 

Probably good I missed the rise of PVP online.... would have been brutal.

ive never cared much for spectator sports. whats the point of watching a pro game of a sport you yourself do not play? i can understand if you are in a local baseball league you would want to watch what the pros are doing in an effort to try to improve your game. same thing applies to e-sports. im not going to watch a pro starcraft player's twitch stream unless i play starcraft (which i haven't in a very long time). sometimes its out of nostalgia, say you played football in high school and it reminds you of your glory days.  it also provides an outlet for various tensions that result from living in the civilized world, a matter of city, state, or national pride. a less violent stand in for the gladitorial combat of olde. 

[Akagi]

Everything

[AtomicTech]

On 2/1/2022 at 10:53 AM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Marines take care of our uniforms.  Always clean and spiffy.  

 

On 2/1/2022 at 10:36 AM, TheSaint said:

I always heard it with a sailor and a Marine. I'm sure @JoeSchmuckatelli heard that one too, although possibly with some roles reversed....

Ooh! Do y'all have pictures of yourselves in Uniform?

I'd love to see one!

[Spacescifi]

So the latest stupid thing I seen... well at least I think it is stupid is what this guy does who frequents the gym I visit. Every day without fail, even during the time he SHOULD be working a job (I took a day off) he is riding his bicycle in the parking lot, blaring really loud vulgar rap music.

The guy is perhaps 20's to 30's by the look of him. He rides blaring the music and will without fail ride to pass by people who enter the gym, and frequently lifts his bicycle wheel into the air for extra attention while riding it.

It drives me mad! It does not matter if it's 12 noon or 10pm, this guy is out there blaring and riding.

 

The obvious solution is to visit another gym where this guy does not exist, but while I will contemplate that and plan on it, what I want to know is WHY?

 

Some reasons that come to my mind?

 

1. He loves attention. Some guys just have an inordinate desire to be noticed and given attention. I am not one of those guys, and frankly I tend to detest such a trait but that is just me. I don't even like it when others try to flatter me with praise constantly. It's actually a surefire way to get me annoyed with anyone who tries.

 

2. He thinks he looks awesome and wants everyone to see how awesome he looks riding his bicycle and playing loud 'awesome' (utter garbage in my option) music.

 

And before anyone thinks I am being hateful I am not, I just do not find any honor in mindless vulgarity being blared all around by traveling bicycle by a guy who is oblivious to the fact that what he is doing is anything but glorious. Yet he obviously thinks it is so....

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Spacescifi

[kerbiloid]

5 hours ago, Spacescifi said:

even during the time he SHOULD be working a job (I took a day off) he is riding his bicycle in the parking lot, blaring really loud vulgar rap music.

low culture + high welfare

[Nuke]

i once had a neighbor who did this, played crappy rap music. my solution was to pick up the complete works of richard wagner.