Not the same. Actually it's worse with bathrooms if you're talking about genitals. Many males hold their penises when they urinate. When those males walk to the exit door without washing their hands, and grab the door handle with the same hand where do you think the bacteria go?
I see your point... and it'd be something worth studying if someone had the stuff needed to perform such tests and the time and energy required. Anyway, I think the difference is more that once you open the door that's been tainted by people not washing hands, is that you're not going to then touch yourself down there without wiping them on something else... I'm not any sort of expert, but I would further guess that the actual bacteria / viruses can only survive for a limited time on an inanimate surface.
At least with the TSA they wear rubber gloves and hopefully change them each time.
The issue is that they are NOT changing them every time, reportedly... though I don't doubt that this varies even down to each agent.
Not that I'm concerned about it but the idea of having someone's bacteria on my hands from another guy's penis isn't exactly something I like to think about. And in many bathrooms in the U.S. the door handle is on the inside of the door and what good does washing your hands do if others don't? If we ever have a pandemic in this country that is spread by hands we are in big trouble.
I agree this is definately low on the priority of concerns, however, it is still one worth mentioning.
I think this is making a mountain out of a mole hill as far as scans and pat downs. A very small percentage of people get patted down or scanned. I've flown quite a bit and it hasn't happened yet.
Sure, I KNOW I'm taking a strong stance AGAINST these machines... because I'm looking at the progression of 'security' tactics... first the shoes, then no water, then a naked scan + dose of radiation and / OR being groped / fondled / sexually assaulted... what's next??
Body scanners to take a train or a bus?? Body scanners to get into the malls?? Body scanners scattered at checkpoints / chokepoints throughout cities? Or will they start sticking fingers inside a persons bodily cavities?? Chest x-rays to make sure that a person didn't sew a bomb inside their gut or as a false breast implant??
Finally, if you actually look at the details of all the failed terrorist attacks that's brought us to this point; both the shoe bomber AND the underwear bomber were LET ONTO THE PLANES bypassing security WITHOUT any ID or credentials. It's invasive, humiliating, and it's essentially pavlovian training to accept a security / police state.
Honestly, wouldn't anyone else agree that it's worth maintaining a level of personal dignity and take the risk that a terrorist might attack?? Rather then to allow this to carry on for the illusion of safety??
The fact is that people die... all the time. In my city alone there was about 30 names in the obituaries, and it's about the same every day... people are murdered, get into car accidents, hell, some people even die from bee stings... none of us are making it out of this life alive.
At what point does this 'security' go TOO FAR?? What is YOUR limit? What won't you put up with?? If not for yourself, for your family?? Are you going to let a pedophile with a badge molest your child in front of your eyes and in front of all the rest at the gate>? Seriously... how much is too much??
As a side note, I still remember my grampa back in the 80s(!) when he would be reading the newspapers just shaking his head in disgust over how much of a police state we were living in... that's getting close to 30 years ago, though at the time I was still too young to truly grasp the implications of what a police state IS.
