Living with Germophobia Part 1

All this while, i have been wondering why my room is not occupy for quite some times or my many tenants left the room and requested to move to another room even though is another building. For example, there is a Malaysian sister, *Kak Maria, used to stay in my room for around a year. But she left the room and requested to stay in another building despite these current room’s room location is really ideal. The current building i am staying is near the gate so it is easier to carry heavy items once i return from grocery shopping. It is also near the hospital, bank, bus stop and community centre. It is only less than 10 minutes walking distance. I wonder why this room left for me.

After few weeks observation, i realised my housemate is the reason, why people left my room and leave it empty for me to come in. 

My house mate is a Germophobia.

Germophobia is also known as Mysophobia refers to ‘fear of germs’ or ‘fear of dirt’. Is a kind of obsessive-complusive disorder. She has pathological fear of contamination and germs. Poor lady, always live with anxiousness and restlessness and she never knows is a disorder that needs medical attention. 

 For the past few weeks, i realised my housemate likes to clean the kitchen top. She does not clean like any typical person would clean a table. She would wipe the kitchen top, table and the stove while the stove is hot several times. She would scrub hard on the tops with wet clothes, follows with dry clothes. Then i observe how she washes her dishes. She uses all her energy to scrub her so-called non-stick frying pan till the frying pan is clean and shine. When i said clean and shine, is really clean and shine till the non-stick coating is no longer there.

Here is the proof…..

Compare with mine, i think mine is 'dirty'

And then she will use short broom, she will squat and sweep the floor, she would spends more than 5 minutes at every corner in the living room to sweep the dust, even though the floor is squeaky clean.  After that, she will use clorox dilute in the pail of water, and then she uses the wiper with cloth instead of a mop to mop the floor. 

I find it fascinating because i believe she is physically tired yet she still wants to clean. I guess overcoming the anxiety and restlessness is much more difficult than being tired physically to clean. Or maybe she gets a sense of euphoric after she sees the handwork she spent in cleaning the kitchen top, table and floor. 

Look at the bright side, behind the nagging, i will get a clean floor, kitchen top and table. 

And another plus point, her patient will never get any infection in her operating room at all… By the way, she is a operating theater nurse. Whoever has her as her scrub nurse, the person is a lucky chap...