Hand Washing at the Track?

In the last two weeks I had the opportunity to make a few cash donations at the flat track in Saratoga (the August place to be, or maybe the august place to be, I forgot which).  Naturally, during the three and a half hour time it took to see and wager on 7 or so races, there were a couple of times when I had to wash my hands. That was when I wish I had three arms and hands.

The wash room on the upper level in the grandstand has sinks with the automatics water shut-offs. No hot water at all, but every time you turned the water on you had a guaranteed one-thirds of a second to get the job done. That's it.  The guidelines for hand washing generally specify 20 seconds minimum of vigorously washing with soap AND WATER.  These sinks turned off so fast that if they were in Vegas the water would evaporate before it hit the bottom of the sink.

I used to think the attendant sitting at a table collecting money for handing men paper towels that could have been obtained from the dispenser was the strangest thing about the restrooms at the track. No more. The strangest thing now is trying to wash your hands, or, even better, watching other guys try. Some are real cool, going through the motions then actually shaking their hands over the sink as if there was excess water on them. Others bend over and try to do an elbow hold on the faucet lever. (I wanted to video them, but I think someone would have gotten the wrong idea if I had taken my cell phone out at that time.) They don't realize at first how hard it is to have your hand in the flow of water while using the elbow from that arm to keep the water turned on. Some guys just curse. The sorriest thing is that many don't even try. (Make sure you never touch a men's room doorknob on your way out after washing your hands: the last 5 guys to touch it probably didn't wash their hands.)

There are about two weeks to go at the track. Go try the grandstand men's room sinks.

For a primer on hand washing, click here.