Skip to main content

Germs and the Men Who Love Them

My friend Melyssa is not going to like this.

She believes in sterilizing everything, and I...

Well...

I am averse to getting rid of germs.

Now, don't get me wrong.

I wash my hands. I do dishes. I take out the trash.

I just don't overdo everything.

When my hands touch something older or a little more worn, I don't think about washing my hands. I don't get freaked out if someone sneezes near me. I don't try to avoid sick people aside from staying a few feet from them.

I'm a big believer in building up natural immunity.

It scares me to see how crazy parents get with their kids when it comes to keeping them clean. I realize we all had an H1N1 scare a few months back, but we're past that now, and parents are still scrubbing their kids clean like they're going into surgery every time they're at a public place.

What's worse is that the kids are now developing the bad habit of sanitizing themselves wherever they go at least twice--partially because it's become a game to them.

Isn't anybody worried that we might be raising a generation of kids who can't fight off anything because they've developed no immunity to even the most commonplace germs?

My favorite commercial is the one that warns you of all the germs that can live on the top of soap dispensers.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you wash your hands AFTER you press down on the soap dispenser?

This is clearly a mix of media frenzy and product placement.

Everyone knows kids need exposure to germs, but that logic went out the window--and understandably so--when the H1N1 scare was in full effect.

But guess what, everybody? The scare is over. We won. Everything's fine.

Now please, stop scrubbing the immunity out of your children.

I tease Melyssa because she's a major promoter of sterilization, and she ended up coming down with the flu, while I--knock wood--managed to avoid it.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A List of People Who Can Go to Hell Now That I Can't Have Elizabeth Warren

So today was a rough day for everybody who isn't a @#$%-ing #$%hole. Let's just start there. If that upsets you, by all means, go straight to hell. This entire rant is going to be exactly what it sounds like. I am mad and I am going to exercise my right to BLOG ABOUT IT LIKE IT'S 1995, SO BUCKLE UP, BUTTERCUP. I really don't even know where to start, so let's just jump right in with the first person who comes to mind. Bloomberg, go to hell.  You really didn't have anything specific to do with today, but you can just go to hell for spending an ungodly amount of money on literally nothing.  I mean, you could have lit millions of dollars on fire and at least warmed the hands of the homeless, but instead, you made tv stations across the country that are already owned by Conservatives rich, so kudos to you and go to hell. Amy Klobuchar, I STUCK UP FOR YOU AMY.  I got into FIGHTS on SOCIAL MEDIA while DEFENDING your sorry, self-interested ass.  You know ...

Theater and the Outbreak

After last week's interview, a representative from a theater that recently experienced the results of opening too soon reached out to speak with me. I want to thank this person for coming forward in the hopes that it'll change some minds about what's safe and what isn't when it comes to the performing arts. Here's the interview: ME:  So this wasn't a full production or-- THEM:  No. It was us trying to do a little something for friends and donors. ME:  Who is 'us?' THEM:  The board of _____. ME:  And how long have you been on the board? THEM:  Three years. ME:  What was this going to be? THEM:  There's a, uh, beautiful park here in town, and we wanted to do an outdoor performance of a Shakespeare as a benefit, because, as you know, theaters are having a hard time right now paying the bills. We checked with the local government and the health department for the state to make sure we were doing everything the way we needed to in order to keep everyon...

My Favorite Podcasts

During this pandemic, I've finally gotten through most of my podcast backlog, and since a bunch of people were sharing their podcast lists last month, I thought I'd join in. I'm not going to give descriptions of each one, but I'll clarify why some are favorites of mine. 10 Things That Scare Me Adulting - Admittedly I don't really like live episodes of podcasts let alone podcasts that are mostly live, but this one is an exception. Against the Rules with Michael Lewis All Songs Considered Articles of Interest Asian Enough Broken Record The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson - No new episodes for awhile, but sooo interesting. Cautionary Tales - Absolutely incredible Code Switch Come Through with Rebecca Carroll - Some of the best interviews you'll hear from the past few months The Daily - I go back and forth on this one because the New York Times is so problematic, but very few podcasts does what this one does as well as it does it Dead Eyes - If you're an actor,...