Hello, my name is Ryan Ashley, and I am a germ-a-phobe. It's true, a few years ago there weren't ten minutes in the day that went by without me washing or sanitizing my hands, or bleaching a counter top... wiping my face, arms and neck with antibacterial wipes...
Then Monsoon began to move around, showing signs of boyish grossness. He seemed to enjoy the feel of a public toilet seat and the taste of restaurant windows or yes, even the smooth metal of a drinking fountain basin on his tongue.
Clearly, one of us was headed for a severely damaged sense of sanity. It wasn't him. Some changes had to be made, and I decided to try being normal for a change. His disgusting endeavors were no less... well, disgusting, but fighting the urge to put him in a bubble and wash him down after every outing - however pressing those urges were - fighting them did bring a wisp of calm into our lives.
Granted, my version of normal cleanliness is somewhat skewed, and my husband did give me the "eye" when I brought out the scrubby brush for hand-washing purposes. Some of you on twitter might remember the bleach incident from a few weeks back, and despite my own warning to you all that it was a bad idea, I once again found myself spritzing the carpet this evening. In my defense, Monsoon had tracked soggy doggy poo inside.
The point here is, I am a reasonably intelligent woman. I understand - in my head - that the media is making a bigger deal about this flu virus (as they do in many many many cases, including every other week when our local news asks, "Is someone in your town infected with...?" right before a commercial) and I usually pay no attention. Or at least, I try really hard to not pay attention, because I KNOW it's over-sensationalism. Alas, for all my efforts at not freaking out, I'm afraid the beast is rearing it's antimicrobial head once again.
For the scoop on how to be a rational human being ('cause you sure won't get that here) see this very important and informative post from HFW. I highly recommend it.
Ask, Seek, Knock.
5 years ago
8 comments:
Oh no you must become the germ-a-phobe during this whole flu thing.
I'm so not a germaphobe. I go with the "I need to keep my immune system active and healthy so it can fight off the truly bad stuff" theory. Plus, I keep hearing how the antibacterial stuff is long term bad on several levels.... but the swine flu? I'll admit to being freaked out by that, too!
Germaphobe...girl I am in the boat with you. Remember the whole "'Holding my breath thing when someone hacks and coughs while walking by"?
I bleach EVERYTHING!!!!!!
Geeez! I am such a sad case too.
Goodness, you never cease to make me laugh -- even when talking about Swine Flu. Thanks again for the link to my post.
My sister is a germaphobe as well but the funny thing is, she's always sick!
I really wish the media would just shut up about so many things!!! Remember the whole "wrap your house up in plastic sheeting and duct tape" fiasco??? And people really did it too!!!!
Sorry, can't get worked up about this. Common sense, good hygiene - we'll be fine!
I am not as bad as you but I have realized I need to loosen up for my daughter ... I did but I still get the heeby geebies when I see her do stuff.
We've officially had our first confirmed case of swine flu in my state.
I'm not terrified or anything, but if I let myself think about it too much I get a little nervous.
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