The Great Unwashed

I saw a man today wash his hands under cold water for between one and two seconds, no soap necessary. This for him constituted a wash. This for me constituted a waste of time; if you're going to do that you may as well not do it at all. It also meant that whoever and whatever he came in contact with from then on was going to get a handful of healthy germs smeared on them. All he achieved in doing this was giving bacteria a bath.
The World Health Organisation recommends we wash our hands for between 15 and 20 seconds. Many world governments offer posters, pamphlets and press releases regarding hand washing. These actually show us step-by-step how to clean ourselves properly.What's most amazing about this is the fact that they have to do it. What kind of society needs to be told? Why are people not bothered about their hygiene to the point where barely washing or not washing their hands at all is suffice? I'm sure no one steps into the shower for ten seconds before drying off so why is this okay?
This isn't okay and here are a few reasons why:

• The number of germs on your fingertips doubles after you use the toilet.
• There can be between 2 and 10 million bacteria from fingertip to the base of your hand.
• 800 new food poisoning cases occur every hour in Australia.
• One in six "wash" their hands with a quick rinse of cold running water.

If people continue to do this is will render taps obsolete and put Royal Doulton out of business. Do you want that on your conscience?