AAAAAACHOOO!

I know we all cherish the words of advice that were repetitively forced into our brains by our Mothers, but have you ever wondered if some of that wisdom is, okay I won't say wrong, but not the best words of wisdom? You all know the one about covering your mouth when you cough, right? Well, lately that has become like a huge pet peeve of mine. Have you ever watched someone sneeze or cough? NO? It looks something like this.

The basic look is for the hand to be covering the mouth completely which catches all the disease infested spittle from being sprayed in the general anterior area. Great form, right? Possibly, but the next step is often skipped; The step of cleansing the hand(s). Ugh!

Now lets look at the 'I really don't want my hand to be slimy' form. I love this one, the placing of the hand or the cupped hands about eight inches in front of the mouth. For the love of fluid dynamics! All this does is direct the spittle laced effluent in other directions and still results in the high speed broadcast of all things germ carrying. Lets all say it together, EWWWWWWWWW!

Am I the only person who has thought about all this or have you? Now lets contemplate what happens after the Sneeze, like answering the phone. Cough, pick up the tongs to access the bagels. So while the 'germies' were kept from being broadcast at the speed of a sneeze all over the place they have been strategically placed in high concentration right where some un-expecting person will place their hand. How does that make you feel? Not enough Purell in the universe to protect us. Which by the way I don't recommend using very often, because I feel we need to be exposed to some bacteria on a daily basis to keep the white blood cells suited and booted for battle. But it does have some very good uses and applications.

So what can we do to help from spreading all this disease invested effluents? Well, there was a very good method that was passed on to me by a kindergarten teacher that I dated for awhile. Her solution, which I just happen to think as being VERY in genius, was to cough into your elbow. Might sound a little strange, but the crook of the elbow is typically covered during cold and flu season with a long sleeve shirt, which would make a decent filter. So catching a cough or a sneeze there would help to keep all them germies from spreading very far. Of course, if one was to place their hand on the inside of someone's elbow I guess they could get exposed to the little bad guys. So while I am not expecting everyone to change overnight after I post this, but just some thoughts to pass along. Oh and if you do choose to catch'em in your hands, make sure to cleanse them before you go a touchin' things. *Grin*