magazines in waiting areas

[neenee]

Do you thumb through them? Or do you not due to worrying about germs and who has touched them with who knows what on their hands?

[jessica31876]

I do look through them but I usually have hand sanitizer in my purse so I use it after Im done

ETA: Im not really worried about catching a cold/flu from the mags so much as some sort of skin infection. Im not sure if the sanitizer kills that kinda stuff but I use it just in case

[emmasmommy]

i look through them...but only in places like the dentist office and "safe" places like that. i never touch the ones in the pedi's office. blargh

[Jennifer]

Never at the pedi's, but at other places I will browse.

[adrianka]

Browse through them.

[heathergw]

I browse through them

[Kara]

I'm usually too busy keeping my kids corralled to read anything.

[SmallFry73]

Thank Heaven for the iPad. I read on there. The only grimy hands on there are my own kids'!

[ColleenSwerb]

I browse, and I don't carry hand sanitizer.

[KateD]

I usually have something with me to do (reading/sewing) so I don't usually read the magazines, but if I'm bored with whatever I have with me I'll read the mags and don't carry hand sanitizer. LOL, I'll probably think twice the next time, though

[Stacey42]

I don't browse them but only because they very rarely interest me. Mostly it's People, and hunting & fishing mags, with a few Southern Living types thrown in. Nothing I'd ever pick up under normal circumstances. I'll read the newspaper or Reader's Digest if it's available though.

The germ thing never occurs to me

[Sharon Kay]

I always have reading materials in my van and take them in ... there is always SOMETHING I am wanting to read but don't take the time at home ... so can't remember the last time I looked at a mag in a waiting room ... hadn't even thought about the germs ..

I have a whole STACK of books on Autism/Aspergers that I bought earlier this year ... and am slowly getting through them in my "waiting times"...

[Scrapper007]

I HATE going to the doctor and am usually so nervous that I don't want to be bothered with anything -- I just want to be seen and then LEAVE! lol

[mdb21]

I usually browse, and don't really worry about it too much, unless it's in the middle of a really bad flu season. I don't think that coming into contact with a few germs once in a while is all that harmful. I definitely don't want my immune system to be so lax that I catch everything, so I figure the little that I might come into contact with on a magazine are only strengthening my system. I may be totally wrong, but reading a magazine in a Doctor's office hasn't killed me yet, so I'll continue to take my chances!

ETA: I do wash my hands quite frequently, so that's part of why I don't worry too much.

[kbbeale]

I consider myself sort of a germaphobe, but Im not that extreme. I also carry sanitizer with me, so if I get freaked out I have it.

emmasmommy - hate to break it to you, my DH works in the dental industry and their offices are some of the dirtiest and germ infested doctors offices. Im more careful there than anywhere else.

[lovely1m]

I normally bring my own book, but if I don't, I browse. Really, if I had to worry about everything being germy, that's just way too much worrying to do IMO.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I usually take my own book if I know i"m going to be waiting a long time...other than that it depends on the place...my gyno or the dentist..I will look through them...pediatrician/ER/regular doc...no way lol

[MamaBee]

Never... it's not that I'm afraid to get sick, but you never know what other people have on their hands and stuff... gross!

I never let my son play with the toys in waiting rooms, either... *shudder*

[SweetMelissa]

It depends on where we are. I look through the magazines at my OB's office but I would never touch the ones at my son's peds office (Ive seen waaaaay too many sick kids cough/sneeze on them & they haven't changed them out in the year we've been taking our son there).

[meems]

I browse. Have never even thought about germs or sanitizing my hands afterwards. I'm of the "that which does not kill you will make you stronger" mindset I guess.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Originally Posted by MamaBee

I never let my son play with the toys in waiting rooms, either... *shudder*

Me either...I have never understood toys in pediatrician offices...it makes no sense.

[LeeAndra]

Sure. I also sit down on public toilet seats. I'm SO not a germaphobe.

[neenee]

I asked cuz I was at the doctor's office, looking down at the magazines when the thought hit me. I am not necessarily a germaphobe but, I can get myself all worked up in an obsessive compulsive fit over things if I think about them too much. Which is exactly what happened in this case. I will probably thumb through them next time I have to visit the Dr but today I totally grossed myself out.

[DawnMarch]

I browse, and I don't carry hand sanitizer.

I live life on the edge, like Col.

[newfiemountiewife]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

I browse, and I don't carry hand sanitizer.

Ditto.

[newfiemountiewife]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

Sure. I also sit down on public toilet seats. I'm SO not a germaphobe.

Haha, me too! I don't care. I'm not going to try to balance over a toilet seat. Since I had kids, I'm lucky if it aims in the right direction, never mind doing something else at the same time hahahaha!!!

[emmasmommy]

i'm not a germaphobe by any means. i sit on toilet seats too...i just...i'm not a fan of snotty kids and all the hacking and coughing. blech. pediatricians offices gross me out. i don't frequent any doctor's office (other than the pedi) often.

[nonnie]

Wow - That never crossed my mind until you posted something!!!! I have been living in blissful ignorance! I always look through them - and I admit, I have taken a star back home, but honestly now I don't think I will!!!

[4noisyboys]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

I browse, and I don't carry hand sanitizer.

LOL! Me too! I'm hardly ever sick either. I think I've had the flu (the sick one...fever, chills, etc...) maybe twice in my life.

[AlliJ2008]

Originally Posted by nikkiARNGwife

Me either...I have never understood toys in pediatrician offices...it makes no sense.

Right?! I mean what are they thinking? Hello, spread the germs then keep the office busy? It is already crazy hard to get an appt as it is! lol.

[misfitinmn]

I browse through them. Really I'd have to not touch anything in the whole place to not come in contact with the germs. And in my line of work, I am exposed to all the same germs that I'd find there anyway.

[KyRainbow]

I always have a book in my purse, so that's usually what I read, but I've been known to browse the magazines if I happen to not have a book or I finish the one I have and am still waiting. My problem isn't the germs, it's that they rarely have magazines that I'm interested in, lol.

[fruitysuet]

Browse certainly (though I tend to have a scrapbooking mag in my handbag usually). I definitely don't worry about 'catching' anything from the pages of a book. There's germs and stuff all around us, whether it's on a book, the chair, handles, whatever. I'm really not at all phobic when it comes to that sort of stuff. There's enough stuff to worry about as it is!