Maybe there are a few times when it’s okay to not love your neighbour enough to share with them.
There’s love in sharing. But there are times when that love can get you into real trouble.
When it comes to sharing some personal items with someone else, maybe you should think about it for a minute before you say Yes, because No is what you should really say.
Other than secrets, here are nine other things you should never share with ANYONE!
1. Bar soaps
No one ever thinks sharing a bar soap with someone who’s too lazy to run out and get one for themself is dangerous because soaps are supposed to clean themselves, right?
Except they really don’t.
The accumulation of fungi, bacteria and possibly yeast on bar soaps counters the myth that they self-clean and are totally safe to share with others.
Bar soaps have no problem with retaining organisms from your skin, like pathogens that could cause infections and illnesses when you share with others.
2. Towels
This is an obvious one, but it seems to be common practice nonetheless.
Other than for the very obvious reason that sharing towels with anyone is just achingly gross, it could get you infected with bacteria and fungus because towels are a breeding ground for germs.
3. Toothbrush
Again, hard to understand why anyone wants to share a toothbrush seeing as it goes into one of your most very private parts, but it happens quite a lot.
The bristles on toothbrushes retain bacteria, and crossbreeding your own bacteria with someone else’s could lead to the births of very unfortunate, but probably well-deserved, pathogens that can result in common cold or strep.
In the case of the occasional bleeding gum, this could get very worse very fast than anyone is willing to give it credit for.
The health industry is either trying to save you from a lot of trouble, or it is trying to sell loads more of toothbrushes.
4. Earrings
With their sharp ends, earrings are prone to the occasional pricks of the skin and can very easily transfer any sort of blood-borne disease you can imagine if two people share it indiscriminately.
Yes, you might want to occasionally flaunt with your friend’s earring that you have refused to buy for yourself, but is the slay worth it?
5. Hairbrush or comb
If you want the impromptu lice party on your head, share away.
Seriously, don’t.
6. Cream in jars
The human fingers, you see, is one of the biggest warehouses for germs to thrive.
So, any time a foreign invader dips their crime scene into your jar of silky comfort, new germs contaminate the entire jar, which means the next time you use it, you might likely be carrying the wages of their sin on your body.
Bacteria like streptococcus or staphylococcus which can cause inflammation of the hair follicle and acne are some of the obtainable results from sharing your cream with someone else.
Only way to share safely is if a clean instrument is used to extract the cream from the jar, but why do you want to go to that trouble instead of just saying ?
7. Lip balm
The human lips are custodians of an extensive network of blood vessels hiding just below the surface, waiting to absorb germs and cold sores that you could quite possibly apply to it from something shared, like a lip balm.
Sharing lip balm – BAD. Okay?
8. Razor/Nail clipper
It’s hard to think that there are people who don’t already know the dangers of sharing razor with other people in this day and age; but for the dangerously uninitiated, sharing razor is a bad idea!
It’s quite easy for dead skin cells and bacteria to accumulate on razors, and this can easily transmit warts and fungus when shared.
It’s worse when it makes contact with a user’s blood and becomes a carrier of blood-borne diseases like herpes and HIV.
Nail clippers don’t get the same immediate suspicion as razors but the same dangers apply with sharing them.
9. Earphones
Hate to be the monster to break it to you, but it’s possible to be jamming to that new monster album at work and be digging boils out of your ear the next day because you shared your earphones with Jennifer from Accounting.
This is not necessarily because Jennifer is a harvest farm for ear boils, but because studies have shown that earphones generate bacteria from the ears while you’re bopping your head to Jay Z or losing your home training to Small Doctor.
Bacteria, like staph and strep, can accumulate on the earphones and jump ship anytime you share to cause infections, boils, or pustules.
The only way to safely share your earphones with Jennifer is if you properly clean it with alcohol-soaked cotton ball before passing it on; but is it the worst thing in the world to be armed with a legitimate reason to say a big fat No to the next person that asks to quickly use your earphones?
Go get your own earphones Jennifer!