Toothbrush Myth

A few months ago, a colleague told me of the dangers of leaving one’s toothbrush in the bathroom. According to him, germs get catapulted into the air everytime we flush the toilet and land on everything (I see a forthcoming commercial sequence for bathroom cleaners: tiny battle-fatigued monsters land with parachutes on the bathroom sink. They then proceed to swathe everything with muck. Camera focuses on a purple toothbrush. Toothbrush gives out a yelp. Que Mr. Clean, cape fluttering, chest puffed. Order is restored. Crowds cheer). He advised that we should keep our toothbrushes someplace cleaner, like the kitchen for instance. I only half believed him. It sounds an awful lot like wives’ tale but sometimes the thought lingers when I brush. Most days I shrug it off. May I remind everyone that I live in Manila. I drink the tap water. I go out and eat isaw. I breathe in that pristine big city air. Guess what? I’m still alive.

The other day, without actively looking for clarification, the answer was served to me by our friends from the Discovery Channel (and who says television rots your mind? It’s really just a matter of switching to the right channels). I’m sure you’ve heard of the MythBusters. Apparently, my friend’s germ yarn was not just locally distributed. It is a belief among folks in the US as well.

Anyway, Mythbusters Adam and Jamie were dead set on getting to the bottom of it all. They had two sets of toothbrushes. One group they placed in the bathroom and a control group they placed in the kitchen under a protective plastic cup. They used the toothbrushes for a month after which they had them sent to a lab for testing.

Here are their findings: They found fecal coliform, a strain of facultatively-anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacteria that originate in….well…poop. They were on the toothbrushes they left in the bathroom but also in those they left in the kitchen. But the guest microbiologist of the show assured them that they were in such small quantities that they would hardly cause any disease in humans.   

Myth busted! At least in a way. Lesson learned is that no matter what part of the house you’re in, poop is eveywhere. I’m curious to know what other forms of bacteria they would find should they do the experiment in a place that is less sanitized, say…here. I’m sure the results will bowl Adam and Jamie out of the room. But that would only prove one thing: when it comes to grime, we Pinoys are iron-clad, baby!

 

Done Out of Sheer Boredom

If I ever get to publish a book, I will have something like this on the cover. Of course, the backdrop is from my old 2007 Starbucks planner. Just in case some rat fink recognizes it and decides to tell on me…There, Starbucks planner people, I cited my source! Please don’t sue me… ***insert spineless whimper here***

 

Off With Your Head!

In the annals of the Berlin archives, where it sat for years gathering dust, was my family’s crest. The livery was sent to us by my ever diligent half sister who, for some reason, was bent on quarrying through 400 years of our largely uneventful lineage.

I asked my Dad whether this signifies some sort of “royal” heritage and by extension a “royal” inheritance thus fulfilling my long term ambition to become a trust fund princess. He shrugged. From his reaction, I surmised that in the feudal era, my East Prussian forefathers used this to brand their fowl and bovines ensuring irrefutable ownership and to keep the neighbors from serving our Bessy on their dinner plate.

Nowadays, it comes in handy to browbeat a few dunces who, in their ignorance, malign my last name. The worst encounter I’ve had so far was at a check out counter of a library. After a few minutes of scrutinizing my ID, the fool asked me whether I was Japanese… I fled the building.

As a side note, here’s an insight on human behaviour:

No matter how hard I insist on people calling me by my minimalist first name, they adamantly choose the path of least resistance. It’s four letters long, folks! In case you haven’t caught on by now, my mother gave it to me for a very good reason.