Do You Glove Up?
As an RVer, we are tasked to connect to a sewer connection at our site or pay a visit to the nearest dump station to empty our gray and black tanks. There are those who choose to glove up, that is putting on gloves to keep their hands clean and poo free. Are you someone who does? Have you really thought about why you do and what you touch in the process of dumping? Not many really do and if they had someone video them from a distance and played back the video, they’d be surprised at what they actually did do.
Most everyone gloves up just before they pull out their sewer hose and connect it to the rig and the dump station drain receptacle. More often than not, they realize they need something out of a locked storage bin, reach into their pocket with gloved hands to get the key to unlock the door. Some will also open the entry door to their RV to attend to tasks inside associated with the dumping process. I will assume they touched surfaces and handled objects inside while wearing the gloves.
How many times have they touched the handles to open and close the doors? Handled their keys? Handle storage containers or other items only to later touch them repeatedly with bare hands? Let’s also not forget about those who has to move their rig to access the second drain point. Gloved hands on steering wheel, door handle, shifter…you get the idea.
Think about this for a minute and what your dumping routine is. You put on gloves to keep your hands free of the microbes found in sewer discharge, yet you unconsciously touch surfaces over and over again with those gloved hands transferring the very thing you are attempting to protect yourself from. What you have done is facilitated the transfer on to everyone’s bare hands the next time anyone has physical contact with those items and places.
We’ll all read and seen reports that it is not the toilet seats that have more germs but our cellphones and computer keyboards. RVers can add to that list door handles and latches, key rings, steering wheel…just about everything one has touched with gloved hands during dumping!
The next time you have to dump, be conscious of where your hands are and what they are coming in contact with. It might be a good idea to add to the process, wiping down those surfaces and places with a disinfectant wipe. I’m not suggesting you not wear gloves, that is a personal preference, but be conscious of everything you come in contact with while you are wearing them you might just be wearing them for nothing.
