Germ Ahoy!

I just realized a major deficiency in my approach to wintertime germ avoidance. And I'm not talking about the other day when the check-out girl at the Health Shoppe violently sneezed on my credit card. That was an anomaly and I immediately wiped all the splooge off the card when she handed it back to me.

I am talking about the hands-free approach I employ in sticky situations, such as strap-hanging in the subway or opening up bathroom doors. I put on gloves. I usually wear leather gloves. Who washes leather gloves? Not me. Upon reflection, this is a problem. There are probably staff infections from 1993 on my leather gloves.

I'm considering swabbing the leather gloves with isopropyl alchohol or possibly rubbing alchohol or vodka as the gloves might actually survive the cleaning. Alternatively I could lay them out and dust them with many layers of Lysol disinfectant spray.

My new improved germ-avoidance strategy is to nicely ask the cashier at Dunkin Donuts for a box of those wax paper tissues they use to pick up bagels. I will break one out prior to touching anything. This will work in the summertime too.

Comments

SMackey said…
Hey! what about the Hygiene Hypothesis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis

If you're too clean, we're doomed!
Bob said…
You would have loved the cruise ship we were just on. Everytime you entered a food area - be it the buffet, snack bar or any of the restaurants- there was a person there at the entrance spraying your hands with anti-bacterial liquid. Also, there were numerous automatic dispensers of the stuff all over the ship. Even at the onboard casino (for dirty money???)
Pfeif93 said…
I often think about this. The real issue with germs is that most people, almost without realizing it, touch their faces, eyes, and mouth. Germs don't get into you from your hands. It is the soft mucal kind of access they love. Someone also reminded recently to wash BEFORE you go potty (not the potty's you gave away on craigs list).