The "I Wouldn't Touch That If I Were You!" Story

It was an ordinary day. Heading to the Doctor's office for another check-up. Not sure what they are checking-up today, but it must be something important. I can remember years ago, after my parents had both retired, thinking that all they did was go to the grocery store one day and the doctors the next. Well, welcome to THEIR life, LDub. When I do go to the doctor's office now, I try to remember a few things about what not to do in the waiting room. Don't touch the magazines and books. The person in front of you who just put it down is here for a reason. Maybe something that is life-threatening, so don't touch anything they have touched. Always use my own tissues when I sit in the waiting room and try to leave as much space between me and the next person sitting there waiting to be examined. Did you know that if they sneeze or cough that the germs can travel about three feet before they fall to the floor. Oh, and never go to the doctors without shoes on. Wouldn't even want to have sandals or flip-flops on. I pity the nurses and doctors who have to see all these sick people. I guess it wasn't that much different years ago when I taught school and all the students were coughing and sneezing on me in the classroom. Also, read about a few other places where you should be careful so you don't pick up germs from someone else. Such as touching a menu in a restaurant. Germs can survive for 18 hours on hard surfaces and if the restaurant is busy ...... oh my! Make sure you don't let the menu touch your plate or eating utensils andalways use sanitizer after you touch the menu. And then when you order, make sure you don't order a drink that has a lemon wedge on it. Nearly 70% of those contain disease-causing microbes such as E-coli and fecal bacteria. How they get there I don't think I want to know. And then when your burger and fries appear, don't dare touch that ketchup dispenser unless you wrap a napkin around it first, since the guy that just left after eating his burger and fries may have had some type of disease. And after eating, if you have to use the restroom, make sure that after you use it, don't touch the soap dispenser because most of those have been touched by maybe hundreds of dirty hands after just using the facilities. Instead wash your hands with just hot water for 15-20 seconds. And when leaving, try to back out of the restroom or if you have to touch a handle, take a spare paper towel with you to grab hold of the handle. A few months ago I also wrote a story about going to the grocery store and grabbing the handle of the shopping cart. The person that used it before you may have just used the store's restroom and maybe didn't wash their hands. Get the idea. That's why most stores have those wipes at the entrance of the store to wipe the handle of the cart. Now, I am not as paranoid about germs as you may think. I still will sit down at school when I visit to do some of the in-house printing and touch the keyboard of the computer or the controls of the printing press that who knows how many others used that day. And I still will ride on amusement park rides and hold onto the handles on the rides that thousands have touched that day. And I will ride on public transportation and hold on to the handrails that others have just held. And I will play sports and will touch the same equipment that everyone else uses. But, I will be extra careful in the doctor's office today, since I know that everyone else in the waiting room is there because they are SICK, probably from eating a lemon wedge or touching the salt shaker at the restaurant they ate at a few nights ago. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.