Next To Godliness

Strange are the practices that mean cleanliness to others. Stranger still are the habits some have not picked up for the sake of cleanliness.


Brushing after meals

In my previous company, two of my colleagues had a very interesting conversation. I remember only a part of it but it’s enough to get the point across. This took place in the pantry after lunch, around 1 p.m.

“Hey Jio, why are you brushing your teeth here?”, asked Janice, who usually asks all sorts of questions.

“It’s the sink, where else should I be brushing my teeth?”, Jio replied with a puzzled tone and then a jovial laugh.

Janice blabbered away while walking out the door. It was typical of her to do that.

What’s so strange or interesting about this exchange of words?

First, if you’re not from a place where you’re used to seeing people brush their teeth after lunch, Jio’s habit might be a little odd for you. I recall a former colleague greeting me “Good morning!” every time he saw me brushing my teeth in the toilet. I come from a place where the odd one out is the one whose breath fails to smell of toothpaste or mouthwash at the 2 p.m. meeting. It’s not only a major turn-off but it’s also taken as a sign of poor hygiene.

Second, if you’re used to seeing officemates perform this ritual religiously, you might have the same question as Jio’s running in your head right now. Where is one supposed to brush his teeth but in the sink anyway?

I only know what Janice was trying to say when she poked Jio with her question because of my own experience. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get her. At home, my mother never hid her disgust whenever she caught us spitting on the kitchen sink, brushing our teeth included. I guess I have been to too many of my friends’ houses to notice that the same rule applies to some of them.

For a lot of families, at least from where I come from, there is a great distinction between the sink in the kitchen and the bathroom. Only dishes, fruits and vegetables can be washed in the kitchen sink, everything else had to be washed in the bathroom or the laundry area.

Washing dishes

When we were being tasked to wash dishes when we were young, it was a no-no for me and my brothers to put the dishes on the sink after soaping them; that was what the counter top beside was for. My mom had another important rule, the sponge (or cloth) used to soap the dishes can’t be used for any other purpose such as wiping the tiles dry or scrubbing the sink. In time, I came up with my own set of rules, the most important one being “All the dishes had to be scrubbed squeaky clean.”

If we dwell on water conservation for just a minute, using a basin when rinsing the dishes is not such a bad idea. My friend Clover got the whole concept wrong. His advice, “Don’t use the water in the basin you’ve already used to rinse the other dishes because it’s like washing them with all the dirt from the previous ones.”, fails to take into consideration the following points:

• the dishes are scrubbed and pre-rinsed before getting soaped to get rid of grease and grime


• the recycled water from the basin is used to wash off the suds


• the final rinse will always make use of running water from the faucet.

I never forgot the answer to my teacher’s question designed to test who in class were helping with the household chores,

“What’s the correct order of soaping or rinsing dishes:
a) spoons and forks, cups, plates
b) cups, spoons and forks, plates
c) plates, spoons and forks, cups?”

If you don’t know the correct answer, please believe me when I tell you that there is and that it’s perfectly logical. (There are reasons why manholes are better off as circular in shape too; think about it.) Don’t be too hard on yourself if you haven’t been doing this task. By the way, I didn’t give the teacher the correct answer.

Eating with hands


A friend once said to me that the best way to enjoy food is to use one’s hands to eat. I won’t disagree.

Back in the Philippines, this is very common especially in the provinces. I even remember TV footages of the president sharing a meal with the common folks where utensils except for drinking cups were unnecessary. I won’t dwell on the political side of things and just continue imagining the festive setting. Heaps of rice and generous servings of several viands and fruits were served buffet style on overlapping banana leaves, which were spread across a chain of wide wooden tables. The food was arranged neatly and strategically at the center part of the now grand table so that the participants can sit on benches found on either side and make use of the banana leaves as plate.

It goes without saying that washing one’s hands before and after eating is a must. There is proof (more than one actually) however, that suggest the second part is often times forgotten. Greasy phones, pens, keyboards and mice are on top of the list. If you had a sharp nose like mine, you’d smell the trace of evidence when making a call to confirm your 2 p.m. meeting.

Taking a bath in the morning


I met Nica in 2006 and one of her stories that retained in my head was how her daughter was banned from coming to school with wet hair. It wasn’t because she wagged it like a dog nor is it because she caused some sort of inconvenience to anyone; she was simply out of place. Nica was allowed to discuss the issue with at least one school official and their meeting yielded a question she didn’t know how to answer: “Why have her daughter take a bath in the morning when she’s already taken a bath before going to bed?”

The question stumped her not because she didn’t have a good answer but because a realization suddenly hit her. But then again several questions raced through her own mind before she could open her mouth to answer the original question.

I can only name a country where taking a shower before going to school or the office is akin to brushing one’s teeth in the morning, where this practice is a norm. I cannot argue that this is how it should be. However, I don’t see anything wrong with it especially if water shortage was not a problem or if the country only has two seasons and the average temperature was higher than 25°C.

Nica and her daughter settled for waking up an hour earlier. I thought using a hair blower was a viable option as well.

Food centers


I find it hard to believe that some things I consider common sense need to be taught. For instance, when a waiter brings your soup, you wouldn’t expect to see his thumb dipped inside to provide additional flavor, right? What about when serving drinks and putting cups on the tray? Being able to hold several at once may seem like a neat trick but I certainly don’t appreciate it if the fingers go into the cup and touch the ice. Same goes for handing off straws, spoons and forks; shouldn’t the food server know by instinct that he shouldn’t touching the parts that go into the mouth?

In one food courts I’ve been, I noticed one server use a plastic glove while peeling and slicing the fruits I ordered only to see her not take it off when she took my money and got change from the counter. Just when I thought she’d make my day…

Call me finicky but I believe good service means not taking such things for granted.

Deodorants

Just like sunscreens, deodorants were invented for a reason. I have to admit I wasn’t able to appreciate the value of my elementary teacher telling us to start using deodorants during puberty. Now I can only wish that the advice was given by concerned teachers all over the world.

Now in the Digital Era where professionals bring laptops, iPods, BlackBerrys and other hi-tech gadgets to the office, I find it hard to believe that some of us have not yet discovered deodorants.

Paul and I were in the pantry area one day, the only place where we could have access to broadband Internet and therefore check our emails. There was this one particular man who came between us and plugged his laptop in the available port. We couldn’t stop from twitching our noses and turning our heads away in agony. Good thing the guy left after a couple of minutes. Paul was shaking his head in disbelief while I couldn’t stop myself from muttering, “What a very powerful man.”