AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
I?ve always been a little bit of a germ phobe.
I can?t help it; I got it from my dad, whose favorite household product was Clorox bleach. He used it for everything from whitening the laundry and his dentures, to sterilizing cutting boards and shower stalls.
I always knew when he had come in contact with someone who was sick because the next day our entire house smelled like bleach. He would fill up the mop bucket with scalding bleach water, and go on a cleaning frenzy, frantically scrubbing all surfaces and clothing items that appeared to be harboring germs.
And let me just tell you, Pops was old school: He didn?t seem to care if his military-like cleaning method caused bleach stains, left an unpleasant scent or caused damage beyond repair. In the end, the germs were gone, and that?s all that mattered. ?Besides,? he would say, as you cried over a pair of bleach-blotched stretch pants with disintegrated elastic stirrups, ?if you really cared about those clothes, you wouldn?t have left them on the floor.?
With all of the attention being given to the swine flu, I find myself struggling with an urge to overreact about germs.
I recently began carrying hand sanitizer in my purse and coat pockets. I even purchased a bottle that clips onto my key ring. Anyone who knows me will tell you this is not normal behavior.
Up until recently, I was the type of person who readily shared food with friends, frequented buffet restaurants, shook hands with strangers, and religiously practiced the ?5-second rule? for sippy cups, cookies and baby toys that hit the floor. I used to believe that antiseptic wipes promoted ?super germs;? that child care centers filled with runny noses were OK because exposure to all of those illnesses would help build stronger immune systems for my children; and that the phrase ?Don?t do that, it could give you trench mouth? was just something my mom said to take the fun out of Dumpster diving, I mean, treasure hunting.
But now, I?m doing whatever I can to avoid contact with germs, and would seriously consider moving my family into a bubble, if our real estate agent could find one at a reasonable price and the bank would approve financing at a competitive interest rate.
You know how some people freak out when they realize they left their cell phone at home? I did that the other day when I took the kids for a walk to the park, and I realized we forgot to pack disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.
Because public bathrooms, especially ones in parks, can be hit or miss on hand washing necessities such as soap and paper towels, I talked my kids into picking blackberries instead of going onto playground equipment, which has become the ?tower of germs? in my mind ever since the flu season returned.
A few weeks ago, we went to the Ellensburg Rodeo, which usually promises plenty of entertainment. But the day was dampened ? but not by the continuous downpour of rain, or the rude couple in front of us who kept blocking our view with their umbrella, or the fact that our children were far more interested in watching the cotton candy vendor than barrel racing and bull riding. No, it was ruined by someone who kept coughing in the grandstands. And if he covered his cough ? there was no way I was going to turn around to check, and risk germs flying into my eyes ? I was pretty sure I could feel the cough?s impact hit the back of my head, through my hooded sweatshirt and everything.
To be honest, I don?t even know if the coughing suspect was the guy sitting directly behind me, or if he was the feverish-looking fellow two or three rows up, who may very well have had those rosy cheeks from beer, not the plague. But I wasn?t going to investigate without a SARS mask and protective eyewear. All I know is that someone was coughing in my vicinity, on the same day that Washington State University reported a major outbreak of the swine flu. I was thoroughly grossed out and convinced that nasty germs were swirling around my children who didn?t make things easier by touching everything they could that day, when they weren?t rubbing their eyes or putting their fingers in their mouths.
We returned to the car, changed our clothes and used up half of a trial-size bottle of hand sanitizer. I would be fibbing if I said the idea of burning our germ-ridden clothes didn?t go through my head.
The first step of overcoming my fear of germs is admitting that I do in fact have one. There, I admit that I?m afraid of germs, especially ones that cause pandemics and worldwide panic.
Next, I need to figure out a way to survive flu season without traumatizing my children over suspect germs, while still keeping them safe and healthy.
After the rodeo experience, I bet my sweatshirt would now have a bunch of bleach stains, if my dad were still around.
http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/976632.html
I can?t help it; I got it from my dad, whose favorite household product was Clorox bleach. He used it for everything from whitening the laundry and his dentures, to sterilizing cutting boards and shower stalls.
I always knew when he had come in contact with someone who was sick because the next day our entire house smelled like bleach. He would fill up the mop bucket with scalding bleach water, and go on a cleaning frenzy, frantically scrubbing all surfaces and clothing items that appeared to be harboring germs.
And let me just tell you, Pops was old school: He didn?t seem to care if his military-like cleaning method caused bleach stains, left an unpleasant scent or caused damage beyond repair. In the end, the germs were gone, and that?s all that mattered. ?Besides,? he would say, as you cried over a pair of bleach-blotched stretch pants with disintegrated elastic stirrups, ?if you really cared about those clothes, you wouldn?t have left them on the floor.?
With all of the attention being given to the swine flu, I find myself struggling with an urge to overreact about germs.
I recently began carrying hand sanitizer in my purse and coat pockets. I even purchased a bottle that clips onto my key ring. Anyone who knows me will tell you this is not normal behavior.
Up until recently, I was the type of person who readily shared food with friends, frequented buffet restaurants, shook hands with strangers, and religiously practiced the ?5-second rule? for sippy cups, cookies and baby toys that hit the floor. I used to believe that antiseptic wipes promoted ?super germs;? that child care centers filled with runny noses were OK because exposure to all of those illnesses would help build stronger immune systems for my children; and that the phrase ?Don?t do that, it could give you trench mouth? was just something my mom said to take the fun out of Dumpster diving, I mean, treasure hunting.
But now, I?m doing whatever I can to avoid contact with germs, and would seriously consider moving my family into a bubble, if our real estate agent could find one at a reasonable price and the bank would approve financing at a competitive interest rate.
You know how some people freak out when they realize they left their cell phone at home? I did that the other day when I took the kids for a walk to the park, and I realized we forgot to pack disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.
Because public bathrooms, especially ones in parks, can be hit or miss on hand washing necessities such as soap and paper towels, I talked my kids into picking blackberries instead of going onto playground equipment, which has become the ?tower of germs? in my mind ever since the flu season returned.
A few weeks ago, we went to the Ellensburg Rodeo, which usually promises plenty of entertainment. But the day was dampened ? but not by the continuous downpour of rain, or the rude couple in front of us who kept blocking our view with their umbrella, or the fact that our children were far more interested in watching the cotton candy vendor than barrel racing and bull riding. No, it was ruined by someone who kept coughing in the grandstands. And if he covered his cough ? there was no way I was going to turn around to check, and risk germs flying into my eyes ? I was pretty sure I could feel the cough?s impact hit the back of my head, through my hooded sweatshirt and everything.
To be honest, I don?t even know if the coughing suspect was the guy sitting directly behind me, or if he was the feverish-looking fellow two or three rows up, who may very well have had those rosy cheeks from beer, not the plague. But I wasn?t going to investigate without a SARS mask and protective eyewear. All I know is that someone was coughing in my vicinity, on the same day that Washington State University reported a major outbreak of the swine flu. I was thoroughly grossed out and convinced that nasty germs were swirling around my children who didn?t make things easier by touching everything they could that day, when they weren?t rubbing their eyes or putting their fingers in their mouths.
We returned to the car, changed our clothes and used up half of a trial-size bottle of hand sanitizer. I would be fibbing if I said the idea of burning our germ-ridden clothes didn?t go through my head.
The first step of overcoming my fear of germs is admitting that I do in fact have one. There, I admit that I?m afraid of germs, especially ones that cause pandemics and worldwide panic.
Next, I need to figure out a way to survive flu season without traumatizing my children over suspect germs, while still keeping them safe and healthy.
After the rodeo experience, I bet my sweatshirt would now have a bunch of bleach stains, if my dad were still around.
http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/976632.html
