When I was a little girl, whenever I had a cold, my mother used to say to me,
"Don't use your sleeve as a handkerchief". So, I still am not able to get my head around the logic of people sneezing into their sleeves. I work in an office of sleeve-sneezers. I also work in an office of huggers. Do you see where I'm going with this? If you have been sneezing into your sleeve, I don't want you anywhere near me, thank you very much. Have you ever seen someone sneeze into their sleeve? Often the sneeze comes on quickly, and the elbow doesn't cover it in time. The sneeze either goes over the top of the elbow, or underneath. It takes a lot of practice and a bit of training in callisthenics to get that elbow into place correctly, efficiently and on time. As an alternative, there is such a thing as Kleenex, and that wonderful invention called soap and water.
I'm no expert in how to prevent colds. I have managed to become infected with another doozy, together with an upper respiratory tract infection, which I have been prone to since I was a child. I have been really ill, and I have missed four days of work.
If you're a sleeve-sneezer, please don't hug people until your clothing has become decontaminated. The life you save may be mine.
7 comments:
I think as a child, we are all taught to NOT use our hands to cover a sneeze. This spreads germs even more. I don't know about the average kid, but mine don't wash their hands every time they sneeze, and in most circumstances, we aren't near Kleenex or a wash room. I personally prefer them to sneeze into their arm. But that's just my opinion. (We do however carry hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE)
Kids at school are now taught to sneeze into their elbow because it's the best place to deposit the germs (rather than in the air or on their hands which, as Arley says they don't wash every time.) I also watched a program on TV last year where they experimented with the various ways of dealing with a sneeze. Apparently, it is the best way to smother all those nasty little bugs - over the classic kleenex and hands manner. They actually did slow motion photography showing those little buggers floating in the air. So it IS the best way but I do appreciate your comment about not hugging other people afterwards. Yes, by all means, if you have a cold you must put on clean clothes every day or else it really doesn't matter what way you try to smother the germs!
I don't think there is a really good solution to containing the germs. I am pretty isolated here in the winter and only come into contact with others when I venture out to shop for necessities. And here I am with a cold .......
If I try sneezing into a Kleenex, I usually blow it to smithereens. Not sure that is a viable solution. I am retired now so I am not spreading too many germs.
As far as hugging goes, I have never understood the concept. The only person in the world I want to hug is my wife.
At one our local gigantic supermarkets every so often a bus drops off about 50 people in black tee shirts and they go around offering hugs to people. It must be some kind of extrovert thing. Ickk! Go away leave me alone!
Hope you feel better soon Jo.
...I think this is a problem without much of a solution...but we drink fresh orange juice every day in winter and wash hands a lot- but still- the little ones have colds!
A couple years ago my phlebotomy instructor at school told us this is the way we had to sneeze or cough in the medical profession! I've been doing it ever since with no real thought to the "huggers". Ewww.
Post a Comment