Money is disgusting

If I was to say to you: Would you sleep in a bed the sheets of which had not been washed in 10 years?  You'd probably reply 'No'.  If I asked you would you sleep in the same bed knowing in the last 10 years at least 1 million people have slept in it, maybe more, you'd probably shudder at the thought and definitely reply 'No'.  You'd probably be adamant that you wouldn't even touch that bed right?

[I realise some of you will have said yes to the above questions and had no problems.]

If all this grosses you out or freaks you out then ponder this: the other day I got cash from a cash machine and I stopped for moment and looked at the notes in my hand.  It hit me how little we actually think about what we are prepared to touch.

One single note on average is between 5 and 10 years old.  It will have been handled by well over a million people easily.  Now think about how many times you have ever used the toilet and not washed your hands, or how many of those people never washed their hands.  Think of the places you keep money, ever kept money in your shoe? your sock? your bra? or in . . . other . . . places?  Where has that money been?  I'm sure you've been on Holiday at some point in your life and come home with foreign currency, not being something practical and people being procrastinators where do you throw it and forget about it?  Quite literally where has that money been?  How many countries has it been to?

When you stop and think about this one thing becomes clear - almost every single person in this world will handle money, the number of people who have handled it before you has the potential to be immense.  Never being washed that's a lot of germs and bacteria to gather as it does the rounds.  Really truly that money must be disgusting!

Fun Fact:  In the City of Los Angeles, California USA 3 out of every 4 bank notes has been tainted or holds traces of cocaine or some other ilicit drug
Source:  L.A. Times Archive: Prevalence of Drug-Tainted Money Voids Case Law

For my fellow countrymen living in the UK we do not escape this reality:
According to forensic experts, around 80 per cent of all banknotes in circulation are contaminated with drugs, a figure that rises to 99 per cent in the London area
Source: Guardian:  £15m of notes tainted by drugs are destroyed each year