"I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole."

Though I think I've mentioned him in one or two of my other posts, I have never formally introduced my brother Evan.

And now I have.

I'm featuring Evan for this week's topic mainly because he inspired this week's topic. Although he is not a full-fledged germaphobe, nor OCD about germs and cleaning, he is rather acutely aware of other people's less than hygienic habits.

"I'm grossed out by things easily. In general, other people gross me out." That's how he put it. And believe me, just because I'm family doesn't mean I'm excluded from that statement in any way. Nor my dad. Nor my mom. All people gross him out.

So this week I'm letting him tell his side, partially because it was rather fascinating to hear what bothers him exactly and why, and partially because I owe it to him for all those times I teased him (to my shame) about the way he wouldn't drink or eat after us. (Maybe this is a good time to confess that I even drank out of his drink once or twice and didn't tell him. I won't rat my dad out though...)

"I don't know how it all started," Evan said. "I just started noticing things at some point that grossed me out."

He admits it is a mental thing. But where some people can just push those unpleasant thoughts out of their minds, he just can't not think about it.

In general, normal things like waste and people who are sick disgust him, but he also doesn't want to touch things other people have touched, or eaten or drunk.

But specifically, people's mouths and feet bother him the most. He said both of those are absolutely disgusting. "They're basically incubating sweat, germs and foul odor."

He only has two requests. "Don't touch my food, and don't take your socks off. Then we're good." He especially doesn't like it when people prop their bare feet up. "I don't take my socks off. I respect people the same way I hope they'd respect me."

As for hand washing, Evan said he's not OCD, so he doesn't wash his hands continuously. Of course, if his hands are dirty or he touched something that disgusts him, he needs to wash them, especially before putting food in his mouth. The same goes for food containers. "They need to be as sterile as possible, at least in my mind, before I use them for my food."

He even detailed how he washes his hands in public places, specifically school. After washing his hands, he take a paper towel, turns off the sink and opens the door with it. "I do that mainly because the frat boys don't wash their hands."

Well that's pleasant. Yeah, maybe I'll start using the paper towel too. Girls in the dorms aren't much better than the frat boys at Evan's college.