People, I have to say, are very nasty creatures. I don't mean that we're hateful and violent creatures even though we are, at times, exactly that. What I mean is that we're dirty creatures. We may bathe regularly and brush our teeth regularly. But, we're still pretty gross. And I say that in all seriousness. You can be mad if you must, but it's still the truth.
People use the restroom and don't wash their hands. They cough and sneeze directly into their hands and then touch other people and other things. They blow their noses and don't wash their hands. They go into work sick and breathe all over every one else, with no regard to those others that they're breathing all over. It's quite horrible.
And absolutely maddening, most particularly at this time of year. It is RSV season and RSV season for compromised children is like deer season for deer. It just isn’t a good time of year!
RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is an infection of the lungs and related bits and pieces that produces cold like symptoms. For healthy adults and children, it's generally not all that big a deal. For a preemie and other at risk children, however, RSV can be a nightmare. It's highly contagious and easily spread. When one coughs or sneezes, the little droplets that find their way out carry the virus. It can live on surfaces and tends to wreak havoc for the wee ones.
Most people are completely ignorant of what RSV is and what it can do. Being a caregiver for a medically compromised child and two other preemies (or former preemies) I'm not only aware of what it is, but I live in fear of it ever striking our household again. Until this year, Alo got Synagis shots from November to April every year. Synagis contains RSV antibodies and monthly injections can help ward off RSV or, when RSV is contracted, ensure that it isn't as bad as it would otherwise be. But, even with the shots, RSV can be devastating to a medically compromise child like Alo (we've been there, we know).
So, we do what we can to reduce the risk to the kids. We don't take them out unless we must. We have a note on the door informing those who are ill or have recently been ill to go breathe somewhere else. We sling Aybra when we can so people can't touch her. We gel every surface the kids must touch when they go out. We gel our hands frequently. But, it's never quite enough... because people are gross and they don't take hints well.
Take, for instance, last Friday. Sis had Alo at the doctor, mom had Kaia and hubby and I took Aybra with us to grocery shop. She has a knitted blanket over her so no one could touch her but so she could still breathe. I was packing groceries and I turned around to check on her and this woman was removing the blanket to get a closer look! By the time I got the blanket back over her, the woman has already been all up in her face, absolutely disregarding the fact that other people might not want her breathing all over their children.
And I may sound like a bitch for saying that, but seriously! I don't care how much you love babies, you have no business getting all up in the faces of children you don't know, particularly if you haven't asked their caregivers if it's okay. And when you do it and you get told off for doing it, you really don't have any place getting all offended because the mother (or father, or aunt or grandmother, etc) had the sense to tell you they don't want complete strangers breathing all over their kids. When it's your child, it's your decision. But if it isn't your child... you don't make the rules. And as harsh as that probably sounds, it's absolutely true.
We don't make these rules for the heck of it. Some of us make these rules for the safety of the child and for the safety of others, those strangers included. We aren't trying to be unfair, we're trying to be smart and considerate of our kids as well as others. As was the case in this instance, it was a little of both. Alo was sick and we knew that the other kids probably wouldn’t be far behind. We didn’t want Aybra passing those germs on to others any more than we wanted others passing their germs on to her.
So, now that I’ve had my quasi-rant, I want to encourage all of you to be smart and considerate when you're out. Here are a few tips that will make the world a less nasty place not only for you, but for others as well.
The Tips:
* When you use the restroom, wash your hands! And after you wash your hands with soap and water, use a paper towel to turn off the facet and to open the bathroom door. Otherwise, you might as well not have washed your hands at all. And please, make your children wash their hands whether you're in a hurry or not. If you’re in one of those restrooms were paper towels have become obsolete, use hand gel after you leave the restroom!
* If you are not sick and you're going out, take hand gel or disinfectant wipes with you. Wipe off the handle of the cart before you use it and after you touch someone else or handle money or other frequently touched objects.
* If you are sick and you must go out, take hand gel or disinfectant wipes with you. Use it on your hands before touching others (or handling money) and on the handle of the shopping cart when you're done with it.
* If you must sneeze or cough, sneeze or cough into your sleeve instead of into your hand. If you must use your hand, wash or use hand gel before touching anything or anyone else.
* If you must blow your nose, don't do it in the middle of the aisle or at the table, etc. Go to the restroom, blow your nose and then wash your hands. Not only will people appreciate not hearing you blow your nose, but you'll also help reduce the risk to others if you manage to blow through the tissue.
* Keep your hands away from your mouth, nose, etc when shopping, particularly if you're going to be touching stuff frequently. There is no telling what germs may be lurking on the objects you're touching. And, if you're sick or getting sick, it'll ensure you aren't putting your germs onto items that others will be touching.
* Likewise, keep your hands away from the mouths, noses, etc of children when out. If you must (as you probably will if you have a small child) touch the mouth, nose, bottom, etc... wash your hands or use gel before touching anything else.
* Ask for permission before touching children that don't belong to you or before getting into the faces of children that don't belong to you. If the parents say they would rather not, don't get bent out of shape. They aren't trying to be rude, but they don't know you from Jack.
* If you're sick or have recently been sick, don't ask for permission, don't touch and don't get close for a look. Be considerate of the child and stay away so you don't risk getting the child sick.
* Parents, don’t be afraid to say no to people wishing to look at or touch your children. It isn’t going to ruin their life. If they get bent out of shape, they’ll soon get over it!
* If your child drops a toy, bottle, pacifier, etc on the floor, don't just wipe in on your shirt and give it back! Clean it thoroughly before giving it back!
* Don't leave used tissues, etc in shopping carts, etc. Take them with you when you go so other people don't have to touch them.
* If you must spit, don't spit in areas where people frequently walk. They don't want to walk through your spit and carry it into their homes, etc.
* For the love of God, if you dribble on the toilet seat, CLEAN IT UP! It doesn’t matter if there is a janitor, they shouldn’t have to wipe off your pee anymore so than anyone else should be forced to sit in your pee or hold their own because you’re an inconsiderate ass.
* Most importantly, use common sense. If it's not something that is acceptable coming from others, it's most certainly not acceptable coming from you either!
Having said all of that, this isn't a full-proof plan. You and your children will still get sick at times. But, it can help ensure that you don't get sick as often and that others don't contract whatever illness you may currently have. And believe me, we will and do appreciate it when you make the effort! This is all very simple and yet, has the potential to do a heck of a lot of good if used. For you. For others. For my sanity.
What more could you want? :D
Could I say Amen x3001??? Because this is exactly what more people need to read. Seriously, it is SO gross when people are sniffling and coughing all during Mass and then go to shake my hand during peace. Just smile and say you're sick! Also, as a homeschooling family, when one family gets sick, EVERYONE gets sick. Just stay home and don't come to the gatherings. I wish sick people would be more considerate when we have food, too. They touch the food just like everyone else. YUCK.
I haven't been sick once this year (praise God!!!)...every time someone in the homeschool group is sick, I make an extra effort not to touch my face, to wash my hands before every bite, restrain from touching people, etc. I tell my siblings to do the same. Once this year, my youngest sister had strep and I went out once, but I made sure not to sneeze or cough in case I carried germs.
As for RSV...OMGosh, that can be so dangerous! My sister had it when she was little and now she has asthma.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
RSV can be horrible. Alo had it last January and spent several days in pediatric intensive care because of it. He was breathing fine one hour and the next, we were rushing him to the emergency room and they were converging on him in the trauma room. Having done that once, we never want to do it again!
People just really don't seem to comprehend how bad even the little things hit him. What we can fight off with no problem, hits him really hard and results in him being hospitalized because his lungs are so bad. If we get a chest cold, he gets pneumonia. He's already been in the hospital twice this winter with pneumonia (just got home last night from the latest stay). We're not anal because we want to be anal, but because it can be so devastating to him when we aren't anal. If one gets it in the house, we all get it and there's no keeping it from him when that happens. If being a pain in the ass keeps him from getting sick, then I'm all for being a pain in the ass.
My mom has really bad asthma too. She's had it since she was a kid and it's no joke either! Chest colds hit her pretty hard too. Is it like that with your sister? How old is she? (I'm nosy, I know!)
And I hear you on the food thing! I just want to kick people who have their hands all up in the food when they're sick. I know I'm a germ freak, but that's just nasty regardless!
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~Fallon~
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.- Russell
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Poor baby. :( I guess people who don't have kids just don't think about stuff like that...wish more people would, though *sigh*
She's 14 now (she'll be 15 in August)...she used to get the croup all the time when we were kids. Like multiple times a year, all the time. Her asthma isn't too bad as long as she stays away from certain foods, but it is troubling.
I have a friend who has really bad asthma...I wonder if she had RSV when she was a kid...I'll have to ask her...
DITTO!!! :P
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
I totally agree people are disgusting. I am also kind of germaphobic anyway though because I don't know where people's hands have been or what not! Eww. Good blog.
Come to the darkside....we have cookies ;)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/50086-%E2%80%9Ctaxi-darkside%E2%80%9D-u...
Ooh, just remembered the other thing that bugs me...COOKING...OK, I love to cook, so I end up doing it alot...I have to touch the food quite a bit and make certain to wash my hands often. However, not everyone is as germ-cautious as I am and it totally grosses me out to think of eating food prepared by other people...YUUUUUCK!
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
On the bright side... if it's a hot dish, the bacteria were probably killed in the cooking process :)
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
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unless they sneezed all over it after they cooked it :(
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"Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence" - Amiel
"The beginning of thought is in disagreement -- not only with others but also with ourselves" - Hoffer
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I'm not even a parent and I have to agree that I would lay someone out if they removed the friggin blanket from my child and tried to play with or talk to them. I don't care if you're an old woman or Michael Jackson, you don't do that.
I also agree on how gross people can be. I work at Starbucks and people do the nastiest things. they cough or sneeze in their hand sometimes directly on the currency their about to hand me, grab food and drinks, then put them back. And sometimes people take their open food into the bathroom with them. I understand they may think it's wise to not leave their food unattended, but seriously? the bathroom? the public bathroom? really? It's just gross.
Yeah, taking and or eating food in a bathroom is just wrong on so many levels. That's what always bugs me about people who want breastfeeding women to take their children into the bathroom to eat. Are you fricking kidding me? They may see no problem with eating in the bathroom, but good God! That's just plain nasty. Don't expect others to risk exposing their children to all sorts of germs because you (in the general sense) see no problem eating in the bathroom. And honestly, if it's one of those individuals who wouldn't dream of eating in a bathroom themselves and yet say women should breastfeed in the bathroom.... I won't even start on the hypocrisy of that one!
Just no. On so very many levels. No.
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"Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence" - Amiel
"The beginning of thought is in disagreement -- not only with others but also with ourselves" - Hoffer
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I am going to be exremely open minded....
Don't want to sound like a bitch that i am. But seriously? ( i mean, if i don't like a post, i usually leave it or something. But i couldn't ignore this ) Yes they're discusting people .. Well done. Also,when you mentiond '' People are very discusting 'creatures' > Are you a 'creature' then?, people can get insulted by that, well done. And, you seem Extremely Patronizing (Well done on that, too.)
Anyway, do have some serious case of OCD? Because you worry alot, about being clean, please state that NOBODY'S perfect. Im sure you've done something ''Discusting before (everyone has, stop acting like it's the end of the world). Wow i think i sound pretty mean. But i'm not. Im just annoyed about this thread. When you gave us the tips, thank you, i think we really needed to be re-minded to wash our hands after a piss, And i will remeber to keep my filthy hands away from childrens mouths! (because whenever i see a child, i just can't resist to touch their mouths and noses! i mean OMG the temptation!) I mean, wow i really needed that. ahaha. Ok, so people DO sneeze in their hands ever thought it is because they dont have a tissue on them (actually, you should of reminded everyone to take a tissue when they go out!) Maybe it's good they sneezed in their hands instead of the air! I mean omgz. If someone sneezed inn the air, that's like a crinimal offence. THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN.
Ahaha.
Sorry, i really dislike this.
Post something usefull next please. ( Then again i am 15, and don't find theese interesting. )
> Are you a 'creature' then?,
Yes, I am. And I don't see what's so offensive about being called a creature, as if you look up the definition of creature, you'll more than likely see an entry that says "a human being". It seems absurd to not use the term creature because it might just offend someone. I mean, really?
I do worry a lot, and I freely admit I do. But it's not without reason. I have a ventilator dependent nephew in the house. He has chronic lung disease and what you or I can fight off with no problem, causes him significant danger (as you might have noticed had you read through the comments before shooting off your reply). If I get a cold, he gets pneumonia and spends days in the hospital, being given IPV treatments (type of breathing treatment that provides internal percussions) every 4 hours because he can't breathe. I would imagine that, if our roles were reversed and it were your nephew , you'd get irritated when he had to deal with going into respiratory distress with pneumonia or RSV and spending days or weeks at a time in the hospital because complete strangers found it perfectly acceptable to pretend common sense didn't exist and that no one else would have to deal with the repercussions of their bad habits.
If someone blew their nose and wiped it on the table, would you sit your dinner there? If you went to a restaurant and the server sneezed all over your food would you eat it? No? So how is it any more acceptable to sneeze into your hand and then touch that bag of Doritos you decided to leave on the shelf for someone else to pick up?
Ok, so people DO sneeze in their hands ever thought it is because they dont have a tissue on them (actually, you should of reminded everyone to take a tissue when they go out!)
There is, contrary to your belief, other methods of containing sneezes that don't require remembering to bring a tissue everywhere one goes. One could, for instance, sneeze into the sleeve. As a matter of fact, sneezing into the sleeve versus the hand has been recommended by health care professionals for several years for the very reasons mentioned.
because whenever i see a child, i just can't resist to touch their mouths and noses! i mean OMG the temptation!
You obviously, missed the point of my comment about children. I believe I mentioned keeping your hands away from their mouths if you had children. If you don't have children that, quite obviously, doesn't apply to you.
I'm certainly not perfect. But I most certainly am aware that what I do when in public can negatively affect others and, having seen the consequences of that firsthand with my nephew all too often, I hold myself accountable instead of pretending it's not important or that it doesn't matter. Pretending it's not a big deal or not going to hurt anyone doesn't make it true. I'm not asking anyone to do anything that isn't already common sense and common courtesy. And if it's harsh or offensive or patronizing to say it's nasty and that using common sense instead of being ignorant is a good thing, then I suppose I can live with that.
And, I wouldn't be a good little moderator if I didn't give a bit of advice, so here goes... people here greatly appreciate proper spelling and grammar and a lot less bold. If you plan to participate here often or participate in the scholarship competitions (which you can't do until you're 16), you'll do yourself a lot of good by running a spelling and grammar check prior to posting, as it's a big turn off to come across a comment or entry and see a lot of bold and a lot of spelling and/or grammar mistakes. People tend to ignore and/or overlook them as not worth the time it takes to figure out what's actually being said amidst the mistakes. Yours isn't terrible, but it could certainly benefit from a spelling/grammar check.
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"Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence" - Amiel
"The beginning of thought is in disagreement -- not only with others but also with ourselves" - Hoffer
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Sure you didn't mean 'there are', and not 'they are'? And it's disgusting, not discusting.
There are quite a many disgusting people out there. I shudder to think of what goes on in some less than reputable restaurants.
As evidenced by her own experience, there are people out there that need to be reminded of these common sense things. There is a reason that almost every public restroom you go into will say something to the effect of 'Employees must wash their hands before returning to work'. There is also a reason everyone in the health field is taught very specifically how to wash their hands (yes, I had to pass a skill test to that effect). There is a reason there are huge campaigns out there telling people to wash their hands... it is the best way to prevent the spread of infection, especially during the winter when we're all packed close together for warmth anyway. If everyone remembered to do it all the time, there wouldn't be these reminders everywhere.
I haven't sneezed into my hands or the air in ages. I always sneeze into my sleeve, because it's the least disgusting thing to do. I don't like spittle all over my hands, and I certainly don't like it blowing around in the air. I highly suggest you take up the habit as well.
I really dislike your reply. Fallon was being helpful and complaining about the stupid people she sees in her life. Your complete disregard of the rules of the English language (which, frankly, I find surprising, since you live in the country whose citizens pride themselves on being better than us Americans) is quite annoying and frankly gives the impression that you are very immature. And since the only thing you've posted is a discussion of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, I hardly think you have the expertise to criticize her for posting something useless.
You say you couldn't leave this discussion, but didn't post anything really useful in response to it. You would've been better off just leaving it.
~C
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Amen to all this.
I used to be such a germaphobe when I was little, and even though I mostly got over that I'm still a believer in washing hands and being careful with things like tissues and such.
And girls, seriously, you know how to pee. Stop peein' on the seats! That's really frustrating. It is.
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I need some more input from y'all here in this forum topic: A ProgressiveU Radio Show/Podcast
I think this is an idea that can improve the ProgressiveU community.