After my workout I walk to the changing room, go to my locker, get the gym bag and after taking off my socks and running shoes, I carefully step into my flip flops.
Why? Because it's the right thing to do... if you are from Italy.
From the very first day on this world we are told so. If you want to avoid fungi or any infection don't walk around barefoot, especially at the gym/swimming pool.
So, walking barefoot on a muddy dirty floor where people walk around wearing outdoor shoes before and after their gym session does not seem like the right thing to do. It actually seems completely wrong.
But I'm realising more and more that not everyone feels the same about it.
Every single time I wear my flip flops I feel... different!
Why, you might ask. Well, it's because I am always the only one in the whole gym with such "useless" item in the gym bag.
The other people do not mind the dirty, wet, (potentially) infection carrying, muddy floor. They seem to be fine walking around on such filthy surface.
Who's right? Who's wrong? Am I just exxagerating?
Well I have no idea, but this shows a different level of perceived hygiene in Italy and the UK.
The key word here is "perceived". Because at times it's all down to what we consider to be right or wrong, good or bad, healthy or unhealthy.
I must have argued so many times with one of my office mates from my old job, on whether it's right or wrong to place a donut on your desk, without using a serviette/napkin.
In my way of seeing things, that is totally wrong! Who would do that? A desk is dirty. I would not do it on my table at home, let alone on a filthy office desk which gets cleaned once a month.
However, in his (apparently) well informed way of thinking, the cold flat surface of the desk is a lot cleaner and more hygienic than a filthy serviette from the cafeteria.
Could it be that he's right and I am wrong? Yes, that could possibly be the case. I would actually love to see a scientific case study on this. But even if I saw such evidence, I would still find it hard to place my greasy sugary moist donut on a germy desk. That just seems wrong. And I am sure most people from my country would agree with me.
But he has an amazing way of looking at things. His answer to any such arguments is "it's not going to kill me, is it?". It's hard to argue with someone who thinks like that..
Whenever there is an office birthday celebration in Italy, people would bring cakes or sweets, exactly like it happens here in the UK.
But most people would actually be mindful enough to provide napkins, especially if the cake is of the kind that is likely to get you all messy, with jam or chocolate dripping all over the place.
Well, not here. I have seen people grab pieces of cake with their bare hands and quietly take it to their desk. No napkin being used in the process.
Who's right, who's wrong? Who's more hygienic? Does it matter?
One last example comes from how sugar is served in cafés and restaurants in the UK and in Italy.
In Italy a new law was introduced in 2004, making it illegal to serve sugar in sugar bowls like this:
Why? For hygenic reasons obviously. Because as you start digging in, to get your required teaspoons of sugar, anything could fall in the bowl. Hair, dust, you could cough, sneeze etc...
It seems a bit extreme, but it makes sense if you think about it.
Based on this, you might understand my level of shock when, during my 3rd or 4th day in London, I went to a small independent cafe in Covent Garden, and since there weren't any sugar bags left in the small container on the counter, the "barista" was kind enough to pass me a few sugar cubes... Using her bare hands. True story. I was in shock.
Using my office mate's motto, "that's not going to kill me" and as a matter of fact it didn't. I'm still here to tell the story.
But it still leaves me in favour of the rationale that "the more hygiene the better"!
