Dandelions

[Max Rockatansky]

How does anything that's going on affect the water quality, though?

It doesn't, it's an artificial taint.

I wasn't saying there's anything wrong with the water quality. Just that the general environment of a gas station bathroom sink seems like an unsanitary place to be getting your drinking water from.

But no more dirty than an average drinking fountain or refrigerator dispenser in reality, hence why perception belies reality.

[GaryV]

In my area, water/drinking fountains (bubblers for those west of here who insist) have been blocked off because of Covid.  It must mean that fountains are less than sanitary, else why bother?  (Not sure how that logic applies to an airborne disease, but that's just one lapse in logic.)

[Roadgeekteen]

In my area, water/drinking fountains (bubblers for those west of here who insist) have been blocked off because of Covid.  It must mean that fountains are less than sanitary, else why bother?  (Not sure how that logic applies to an airborne disease, but that's just one lapse in logic.)

I don't think surface transmission is a big issue so I don't now why they are still blocked off.

[webny99]

How does anything that's going on affect the water quality, though?

It doesn't, it's an artificial taint.

I wasn't saying there's anything wrong with the water quality. Just that the general environment of a gas station bathroom sink seems like an unsanitary place to be getting your drinking water from.

But no more dirty than an average drinking fountain or refrigerator dispenser in reality, hence why perception belies reality.

I think it's very safe to say that a gas station bathroom sink is dirtier and less sanitary than the spot where I'd be putting my cup/mug to get water from a fridge dispenser. It's a function of how much it gets used and what it gets used for.

[Roadgeekteen]

How does anything that's going on affect the water quality, though?

It doesn't, it's an artificial taint.

I wasn't saying there's anything wrong with the water quality. Just that the general environment of a gas station bathroom sink seems like an unsanitary place to be getting your drinking water from.

But no more dirty than an average drinking fountain or refrigerator dispenser in reality, hence why perception belies reality.

I think it's very safe to say that a gas station bathroom sink is dirtier and less sanitary than the spot where I'd be putting my cup/mug to get water from a fridge dispenser. It's a function of how much it gets used and what it gets used for.

Also, those are your germs at the fridge dispenser most of the time.

[vdeane]

I doubt the dispenser is any safer than the kitchen sink.  Probably less safe even, because at least most people know the kitchen sink needs to be cleaned periodically.  Any mold spores and whatnot floating in the air aren't any less likely to grow in the dispenser than in the sink.

This whole discussion reminds me of how one of my high school teachers liked to talk about how the toilets were cleaner than the desks, because those get cleaned every night and the desks don't (this brought on when people would eat their lunch or snacks in class).

In my area, water/drinking fountains (bubblers for those west of here who insist) have been blocked off because of Covid.  It must mean that fountains are less than sanitary, else why bother?  (Not sure how that logic applies to an airborne disease, but that's just one lapse in logic.)

I don't think surface transmission is a big issue so I don't now why they are still blocked off.

That's another perception vs. reality thing.  While surface transmission is now acknowledged to not be a big issue, early in the pandemic the experts talked as if it was the main issue, and people internalized that and don't feel safe if they don't see precautions for (mostly not a problem in reality) surface transmission.  Heck, I even had someone without a mask on yell at me for moving her laundry "during a pandemic" when I needed a machine and she had used all of them.  Then she got very angry when I pointed out how ridiculous that was (if she was so worried about COVID, where was her mask?), given that it was quite clear by that point that not only is surface transmission not a big issue, but that COVID spreads through the air and the 6' rule is mostly a placebo indoors.

Plus one of my co-workers only just stopped wiping down her groceries, now that she and her husband are fully vaccinated and 2/3 of her kids are eligible.

[kphoger]

Yes, because it makes little sense to me to assume gas station bathroom sink water is unsanitary.

I'm not assuming the water is unsanitary, I'm assuming the sink is unsanitary.

Why do you care if the sink is sanitary?  If I'm filling a cup from a tap, my cup doesn't even touch the sink!  I just hold it in mid-air under the faucet.

Do you fill cups differently somehow?  Like, drag the lip of the cup along the inside of the sink bowl first?

There could be cigarette butts and used tampons and day-old hot dogs sitting in the sink, but that wouldn't really affect the sanitation of the water coming out of the tap.

[renegade]

Somehow, this thread has little to do with dandelions now.  Funny how that happens.

[GaryV]

Somehow, this thread has little to do with dandelions now.  Funny how that happens.

Maybe we need to water the dandelions using water from the gas station sink ........

[Scott5114]

Somehow, this thread has little to do with dandelions now.  Funny how that happens.

Welcome to AARoads!

[Roadgeekteen]

Somehow, this thread has little to do with dandelions now.  Funny how that happens.

And you are the only one that cares.

[Rothman]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

[Max Rockatansky]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Fun facts about the "supposed"  sterile nature of urine:

https://www.healthline.com/health/is-urine-sterile#the-myth

[Roadgeekteen]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

[Max Rockatansky]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Sometimes you have to make due with what you got in an emergency. 

[dlsterner]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Ever been to a rock concert in a venue with an inadequate number of men's rooms?  Sinks frequently end up being urinals.  (Yeahhh ... I can wait until I get home to wash my hands...)

(Before anyone says anything ... no, I've never done that personally)

[Roadgeekteen]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Ever been to a rock concert in a venue with an inadequate number of men's rooms?  Sinks frequently end up being urinals.  (Yeahhh ... I can wait until I get home to wash my hands...)

(Before anyone says anything ... no, I've never done that personally)

I'd rather you just use the floor.

[webny99]

We should be thankful that most restrooms in this country have individual urinals, and often even dividers! Troughs are common in other parts of the world.

[Max Rockatansky]

We should be thankful that most restrooms in this country have individual urinals, and often even dividers! Troughs are common in other parts of the world.

Shy guy syndrome?  In Mexico you have to pay to use public restrooms.  Even the stalls often lack doors and seats often.

[Rothman]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Sometimes you have to make due with what you got in an emergency.

Any port in a storm.

[Max Rockatansky]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Sometimes you have to make due with what you got in an emergency.

Any port in a storm.

Speaking of that, it is pretty much a standard practice to fill things like sinks and tubs with water as part of preparation for a hurricane. 

[Rothman]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Sometimes you have to make due with what you got in an emergency.

Any port in a storm.

Speaking of that, it is pretty much a standard practice to fill things like sinks and tubs with water as part of preparation for a hurricane.

Best sanitize them first.

[1995hoo]

In what way are you scared of dandelions? Like do you think they're going to jump out and eat you? 

I like the yellow dandelions, but the gray ones are annoying.

Saw this yesterday afternoon while out for a walk. The ground there looked like it had snowed, but I think it was all grey dandelion gunk.

[Scott5114]

In what way are you scared of dandelions? Like do you think they're going to jump out and eat you? 

I like the yellow dandelions, but the gray ones are annoying.

Saw this yesterday afternoon while out for a walk. The ground there looked like it had snowed, but I think it was all grey dandelion gunk.

My yard has had the same problem in the last couple of weeks, but with cottonwood fuzz.

[kphoger]

I suddenly have an urge to urinate in the gas station sink.

Please don't.

Ever been to a rock concert in a venue with an inadequate number of men's rooms?  Sinks frequently end up being urinals.  (Yeahhh ... I can wait until I get home to wash my hands...)

(Before anyone says anything ... no, I've never done that personally)

I'd rather you just use the floor.

So everyone else can step in his urine and then track the germs everywhere their shoes go?

My yard has had the same problem in the last couple of weeks, but with cottonwood fuzz.

Same here.  Cottonwood seeds, not dandelion spores.