In this season of the cold and flu, a mystifying characteristic among the adult population has caught my eye. It’s hand washing or the consistent lack of it. Some may think this is a petty concern not worth writing about. Wrong. Because we live in a society and share so much of what we use daily (handrails, handshakes, doorknobs, etc.), hand washing after the bathroom is not optional; rather, it is a social and, yes, moral obligation.

In 2006 the Minnesota Department of Health did a study on hand washing. The findings: 97 percent of the sample’s females said they wash their hands after the bathroom, while only 75 percent actually did; 92 percent of the sample’s males said they wash their hands, while only 58 percent did (MN Hand Washing Tool Kit).

The obvious disparity between those who said they wash their hands and those who actually did shows that non-hand washers understand society’s expectations of them – they just don’t care to amend their hand washing habits.

Rather than change their behavior, 22 percent of women and 34 percent of men remedy the embarrassment by lying in the study and continuing their socially destructive behavior. In the time it takes them to walk past the sink, they have decided that their time is more important than to be spent not only curtailing illness and disease for themselves, but for everyone else, too.

Failing to wash hands is like having body odor. There is no law broken in smelling foul, nor should there be. But when living in a society, there are obligations that hold all members to a standard. It can be reasonably expected that members will incur minimal cost in order to prevent illness in themselves and in others. Society can expect that its members will not smell foul, just as it can expect members to wash their hands.

The disregard for society on behalf of non-hand washers is indicative of a greater, more dangerous mark of current society. Nearly 50 years ago, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was lauded for saying, “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Perhaps it’s draconian to incite a U.S. president in a piece about hand washing. So be it.

JFK’s point has lost credence in today’s society – at least among non-hand washers. In keeping soiled hands, these people are not asking what is best for society or even themselves. Instead, they reject society and ask what the easiest, most convenient course of action is in that moment. It’s selfishness and narcissism.

Perhaps the most vexing thing about this issue from the hand washer’s perspective is that the whole process is so easy. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says a proper hand washing takes 15 to 20 seconds. That’s it. Little ‘inconvenience’ for having such positive benefits for everyone. Taking into account the individual’s responsibility to society, this whole 20-second affair is not an option, but an obligation.

If everyone in society washed his or her hands less, would society be better off? Most everyone, even the non-hand washers, would say no. Consider the opposite. If everyone in society washed his or her hands more, would society be better off? Yes. Adding to this the minimal time and personal cost involved in hand washing, let’s all wash our hands next time for ourselves, but more importantly, for everyone else.

Fischer, a senior business administration and music major, is a guest columnist for The Spectator.