May 7, 2008
Follow in my footsteps, people:
Posted by imhelendt under Humor, Life | Tags: germaphobia, germs, keyboards |1. Surf the internet
2. See the following headline: Dirtier than a toilet? with a picture of a keyboard.
3. Without clicking on the link, jump up and run to the bathroom for disinfectant, muttering “OH DEAR GOD!” on the way.
4. Thoroughly disinfect keyboard and mouse and anything else in it’s path.
5. Return disinfectant to bathroom, pausing at cabinet to decide you probably weren’t thorough enough and could have missed a spot.
6. Disinfect keyboard again and return disinfectant to bathroom.
7. Settle back in seat and click on link.
8. See sub headline: Bacteria Thrive on Keyboards, Mousepads, Phones and jump back up and head for the bathroom again.
9. Disinfect phones. Yep. Twice.
10. Return to chair again and settle in to read article. Recoil in horror at the thought of millions of bacteria and the comparison to public faucets and shopping cart handles. It’s almost enough to drive one back to the bathroom for another round of disinfecting.
11. At this point realize that you’ve sat back down and started using mouse and keyboard, but can’t remember if hands have been disinfected.
12. Jump up again and run to sink for surgical hand wash.
13. Consider where else house might need to be disinfected now….. ![]()
May 7, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Howard Hughes would be proud.
May 7, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I’m seriously considering driving to your office right now and disinfecting. You may be sprayed upon entering the house this evening.
You should also know there are other horrors:
http://www.cleaningtips.com/blogs/cleaningtips/archive/2007/07/20/whats-dirtier-your-cell-phone-or-a-toilet-seat.aspx
and
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1641825&page=1
May 7, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Okay, I haven’t clicked on those links, but yea, I figured that would be something I should live with at my workplace. But first, I think some germs are okay. A must have, if you will. You don’t want to create SUPER GERMS by disinfecting too much, right? And second, I never, never, ever, ever use a certain someone’s phone or keyboard EVER at my workplace. Just because I know there are countless living organisms thriving in that office. None of which I would like to have on my person.
Okay, off to some light reading on my break. Meaning skimming through the links above in about 2 minutes… HA!
May 7, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I guess you don’t want to know about the lemon in your water and tea at restaurants and the drinking glasses and tv remote in your hotel room.
I used to bring wipes with me to hotels to wipe everything down before I touched anything. Then my FIL (the husband of my similarly afflicted OCD germaphobe MIL) told me that studies show that 3 colds a year protect you from cancer.
I am now FREE!!!!! When my kids eat off the ground outside I just say “Ah, no cancer in their future.” When they sneeze in my face I say “Ah no cancer in my future.” Quite liberating. But we also spend more than half the year with some disease in our house.
May 7, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Zee- The fecal germs? NEVER ok. And I used rubbing alcohol to disinfect. I don’t use the chemicals.
Colleen- Ew. Seen the hotel glass thing. Read about the lemons. I think all the stuff about if kids aren’t allowed to get sick they’ll be sicker later or won’t develop immunity is bullshit. My pediatrician shares the same philosophy. I actively try to prevent my youngest from getting sick because what is a cold to one child, turns into pneumonia for him. My oldest has an iron-clad immune system. I believe they were born that way: one with an excellent immune system, one with a terrible immune system. I sanitized the same for both of them. They were just born that way. We practice good hygiene and still get sick. My boys are sick less than most kids though.
May 7, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I actually agree with you for the most part. My youngest son has asthma and has had pneumonia twice (he’s 4). He also is allergic to about 7 different founds. As you said, he was just born that way.
On the other hand my oldest son doesn’t have asthma and can eat just about anything. However, he has had ‘hand foot and mouth’ disease twice. The stomach flu about 15 times in his life (he’s 5 1/2) and this year influenza. Youngest escaped it all.
Go figure
I will say though that they have done studies on peanut allergies and found that one of the new antidotes is to introduce a bacteria to the body just before giving peanuts to a person and found no reaction because the body was too busy fighting the bacteria. Can you tell we get ‘Discover Magazine’ at our house?
May 7, 2008 at 7:18 pm
After reading how clean U are.. I decide I’m dirty!!!!!!!!.. well that might prove so far my baby has a really good inmune system. So far she hasn’t get sick in her 8 months of life. .. Will be more clean in the future. But.. my gosh.. after reading you I’m really dirty.
May 8, 2008 at 8:30 am
Um, I am not going to disinfect anything. Bring on the germs…
Of course I am just kidding.
But I had to quit reading all of those articles because I was freaking myself out, and making everyone sick from the smell of cleaning products.
So now we clean, but don’t OVER clen.
And we just twitter, and blog, and ignore stupid research articles on the internet!
May 8, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Colleen- Interesting. So my son can eat the foods he’s allergic to when he’s sick? ;D
Sabrina- CLEAN THE BABY! CLEAN THE BABY!
Faith- GAH! WE DO NOT SAY “BRING ON THE GERMS!” ;D I will never eat ice out of a soda machine again.
May 8, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Helen - let’s just say I won’t be trying it on my son anytime soon. The studies are interesting. What foods are your son allergic to and how bad is it?
May 8, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Thats what you get for Rose’ing Steve last week…
Free Tibet.
May 8, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Ok I’ll Clean her.. with clorox desinfecting wipes? HAHAHAHAHA.. kidding ok!,
BTW. I know you don’t read my blog..its in spanish and is kind of stupid :P.. but. there is a pic of me with my baby if you want to meet us
hehehe.
May 9, 2008 at 6:23 am
whats Disinfectant?
Seriously i just vacuum maybe every other week.
Sigh, the life young bachelor!
May 9, 2008 at 6:23 am
whats Disinfectant?
Seriously i just vacuum maybe every other week.
Sigh, the life young bachelor!
May 10, 2008 at 5:35 am
One word: EWWW. Double EWWW. TRIPLE EWWW.
May 10, 2008 at 11:21 pm
H, I SO get this. I do this too. Germiphobe Twin powers: Activate!!
Depending on the job, I’ll use rubbing alcohol, bleach, Clorox or Lysol wipes, white vinegar, baking soda or CLR. Being careful when/with what the bleach gets mixed with/around. Duh. My mind is sick but I have no urge to die.
May 11, 2008 at 9:49 pm
If you think all this is bad you should read the new book we have in our house. MicroMonsters. All about eyelash mites that live at the base of your eyelashes and skin mites that burrow and lay eggs under your skin. And those lovely creatures the dust mites that live in your carpeting and bed and eat your skin flakes.
It was bad enough that my in-laws thought this book would be fun for my boys but now I am required to read a chapter every night. Ever try to go to bed right after reading about and seeing pictures of eyelash mites. Makes me want to drowned my eyes in bleach.
May 12, 2008 at 6:59 am
Where are you helen?! We miss your posts!
May 12, 2008 at 9:38 am
Colleen- He’s allergic to apples and some seafood. He goes anaphalactic on just touching it.
Beau- I KNOW! Damn Karma.
Sabrina- Actually I do read your blog. It takes me awhile though. I don’t comment because I don’t have the software to write in Spanish (to do accents and tildas.) Plus my Spanish isn’t as good as yours.
And I did see the picture. You guys are adorable.
JESSE! What self respecting gay man does not know what disinfectant is?!?! You’re not being true to your home boys! ;P
Pandemonic- QUADRUPLE EWWW!!!!! lol!
Beth- LOL! I’ve decided you should move here. We can make jambalaya and clean and do art. LOL.
Colleen- Thank you so much for my new nightmares. ;P
Jesse- Here but broken.
May 12, 2008 at 6:17 pm
awh. I hope your not broken for much longer!
Oh and i know what disinfectant is! That is just a job that is soooo beneath me! You know i was royalty in a previous life! (true story!)
now for unrelated news in a span of three days I went from 400 views to nearly 1500 with one post! Apparently I out scooped Perez hilton on the Gay kiss on Grey’s anatomy !!! I sure hope you do keep up with my blog!
http://www.killerkaratefrog.com
May 13, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Wow thanks. write in the spanish the keyboard let you ..In fact i don’t have a spanish keyboard.. so that is why I don’t use accents nor other stuff on my posts..