zitsky

No one ever admits that their feet stink or they have body odor. Besides it's hygiene. An airplane floor or bathroom is filthy.

SamirD

Ah, this is the answer!

thebakaronis

I totally get the stinky feet part. And I also get the hygiene issue. But here's my confusion on both: on the first, people seem to have a revulsion for bare feet even when there's no stink. As I said, I don't walk barefoot in planes for hygiene reasons. But I also don't wear my shoes in my home for the converse reason (i.e., I don't want to bring in the germs and dirt from the outside and smear them all over my house). But there are millions of people who have no problems walking all over their homes (and some even on beds) with their exterior footwear. Something doesn't add up for me. I think there's some other deeper reason for why bare feet are apparently not acceptable in certain (predominantly western) cultures, whereas they're perfectly acceptable (and even mandated) in certain clean spaces in other cultures.

SamirD

This is a much deeper question than that of people and their feet on planes, that's for sure. Let us know what answer you discover as it will be interesting.

HMPS

Much has been foisted upon us by the "civilized society" over the years. As someone from non western "civilized" world I am always amused at comments about you should not eat with your hands ! My reply is, it is more satisfying, brings you "in contact" with nourishment, tastes better etc. I am then met with derisive or disdained looks. Gently I ask why do westerners from "civilized society" eat pizza or fried chicken with hands ? Met with silence! . I point out that somehow it feels more satisfying !!! !Neither can they answer how our forefathers ate.....Corollary to this on the other side, "Easterners" abhor the thought of being totally naked in presence of others as in a locker room. If you see one in his underwear, bet he is an immigrant!

zitsky

If you have good hygiene, just eat the way you want.

HMPS

I do ! ^

SamirD

Eating with your hands does also play a part into hygiene. Ever wonder why germs spread like the plague in certain places? Not washing hands and eating with hands is a recipe for disaster, and eating with utensils reduces the chances of self-contamination if you can't wash your hands or end up touching somewhere else while eating.

And it's not that I don't eat with my hands--my wife's Indian cooking is only eaten with hands. But I also know the risks are higher for a contaminant to enter my system. I actually eat pizza with a fork and knife, and most everything with utensils just to avoid soiling my hands even though I wash them too.

SamirD

Then you should be fine. Let people think what they want.

DeepUnderground

Please, don't.

SamirD

LOL! But it keeps me from burning my tongue since I'm usually starving and ready to demolish the whole thing straight out of the oven.

thebakaronis

I agree. Those who eat with their hands know they need to wash their hands before eating. No different from washing utensils before using them. When eating at a restaurant, I'll trust the hygiene of my fingers any day over that of the cutlery (you should see how dishes are actually washed). But, I go along with the cutlery for the sake of appearing "civilized". (At home I do eat with cutlery because I know they're clean and are lot more convenient.) Speaking of hygiene, how about cutlery and even breads being placed directly on the serving table? Surely the table is not supposed to be as hygienic as a serving plate is supposed to be? Those who have an issue with finger hygiene might want to consider why placing items that go into your mouth on a table is more hygienic.

In regards to Samir correlating the rate of infectious diseases to the use of fingers, I'm sure in some instances diseases do spread because of that. But, by and large, the spread of diseases in poorer countries have more to do with the sorry state of public sanitation infrastructure, the close proximity that people and livestock live in, and less to do with whether they use their fingers or chopsticks or their nostrils. In fact in places that practice communal eating (parts of the Middle-East, Africa & parts of East & Central Asia) where it's not unusual for people eat out of common plates/bowls of food, the rate of infection is no higher once corrected for other factors.

The point of all of this is there are unhygienic habits being practiced in all cultures. They just happen to be different from each other. I think the argument of "my unhygienic practices are better than yours" is silly. Many of these practices don't often travel well across cultural boundaries. All of us -- both in the "civilized" world (oh, how I hate that word and its vile connotations) and the "uncivilized world" -- need to be more open to practices that we may not be familiar with. We're all capable of being "civilized" and "uncivilized" at the same time.

zitsky

Lots of cultures considered themselves more civilized than their neighbors. USA, Roman Empire, China etc.

SamirD

Oh, I know there's a lot of outside factors, but using the hands should be the last thing one should be doing when everything else is that bad. And communal eating does the same thing of spreading the germs.

They're actually both hygiene points--which imo is generally not respected in the third-world. Hell, I've seen bare feet in hospital ICUs and mosquitos in patient rooms in those parts of the world. And when I confronted a doctor about it, he was simply smug about how our [western] immune systems can't cope with the 'bugs'. You're as good as dead in one of those hospitals if you're immune system is only used to the west.

GetSetJetSet

I think it was UA, maybe a CDG-EWR flight. Woman next to me was wearing some sort of visor/mask combo that sort of looked like a welders mask (covered her whole face), but it was shiny silver cloth with a sort of tinted visor for the eyes. That was odd enough, then once she took her seat, she put a blanket over her head and remained like this (in her blanket fort) for the duration of the flight...at least she was quiet.