That triggers a commenter:
Before you leave on travel, pack 20-30 Lysol brand wipes nea[t]ly folded into a large zip lock plastic bag. They will pass airport security.This person is (as I see it) clearly joking, because there's no realistic sense of the capacity of a large Ziploc bag and the size of a pile of 20-30 Lysol wipes and because it's silly to specify the brands. But it's hard to see humor these days, when Glenlivet pods are not a joke, and 2 other commenter taunt with an accusation of OCD. The full fun of our ridiculous culture then pops out as the taunters are chided:
1) Use the first one to clean the arms of your seat and the seat belt buckle and insert.
2) Use the second to clean your drop down tray table.
3) As soon as you arrive at your hotel, take another 3-4 wipes and use them to immediately clean the telephone in your room, the remote control, the air conditioner buttons. And yes - the faucets on the sink and shower.
You clearly have no concept of what OCD is if you're criticizing someone for wiping down surfaces used by the public. Please read up on OCD if you really want to understand it (though I doubt you do--you're just the type of person who lobs mental illness diagnoses at people as a form of insult, which makes you nothing but a common bigot).Or do you think that person is a satirist?
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I think they're all dead serious.
I actually sat next to one of these wipe using nuts. She meticulously wiped the arms and the tray making a huge deal of it. Loathsome woman.
I used to pack a large paperclip, the kind that are black and look triangular from the side, to clip curtains together. But you can also get plastic clips in the grocery store intended for closing up potato chip bags, and they can work well, too.
Wipes are a good idea, but you don’t need 20 to 30. The germiest places in a motel room are the door handles on the bathroom door, the toilet seat, and the flush lever (or so I have read). I also used them on gym equipment if I work out. Leave your black light at home; you don’t want to know what’s on the bedspread! But sheets are usually bleached when they’re washed. I have smelled the chlorine bleach in the cases where the hotel laundry is not far from the lobby.
I also bring my own travel alarm, to back up the wake-up calls. And singles for leaving tips.
Hmm... I travel a lot for business and have for years. The running joke among my friends was that I'd leave for a week of business and come back with a cold. Between the planes and the hotels rooms it's only a matter of time before you'll catch something. Throw in exhaustion, stress...it is not fun. Let me rephrase that: When I was 30, it was fun. At 65, it's not fun.
About 2 years ago I started packing bacterial wipes (small pack of 25 or so) in my suitcase. I don't do the plane- though I really should. But I don't touch anything in my hotel room until I've wiped down all light switches, door knobs, chair arms, desktop. And first and foremost: the TV remote and the thermostat. I have definitely cut down on the colds since I started doing this.
Of course, the bubble I wear is cumbersome, but it allows me to ignore the person next to me on the plane.
The wipes compress to small in the bag aftew sucking out all the air.
Ask jimbino if you think that is satire.
I try not to touch door handles in public places, especially bathrooms. I'll use my shirt sleeve or a paper towel. I use the wipes provided for grocery carts. Maybe that makes me OCD. Also when signing credit card receipts I use my own pen. I have not been sick for a few years & I prefer to keep it that way.
I always take a packet of disinfectant wipes with me when I travel. I too wipre down the airplane arms, tray and buckle.
I also carry a small container of hand sanitizer. Think about all the surfaces you touch that has been touched by thousands of people - doors, escalator rails, taxis, etc.
I'm not ocd in the least. It's just good precaution to take especially in foreign lands where there may be germs your body has never been exposed to.
The Lysol is a good start in protecting yourself while traveling. The next step is the bed bug check as per the Business Insider: “ Closely examine the folds and seams in the corner of the mattress for signs of bed bugs. Use a credit card to get underneath the folds of the mattress, where bed bugs love to hide, and closely examine the darker hiding spots with a flashlight. Use a credit card and flashlight to closely examine the seams of a mattress.”
“Closely examine the folds and seams in the corner of the mattress for signs of bed bugs. Use a credit card to get underneath the folds of the mattress, where bed bugs love to hide, and closely examine the darker hiding spots with a flashlight. Use a credit card and flashlight to closely examine the seams of a mattress.”
I assume my immune system is functional, and behave accordingly. It would be satisfying were I seated next to a compulsive wiper-downer on a airplane if I could sneeze right after their ministrations were complete.
Some quick thoughts.
Let's install a new level of fear in the general population, especially kids. Stamp "Don't touch before wiping or you'll DIE!" on every globe sold.
Plus...
At some point are we reach diminishing returns? You can't wipe every surface you touch. You just can't.
Plus...
We kill many/most germs with the wipes, those that are left are the strongest/survivors. Is this like resistant bacteria due to over use of antibiotics?
Plus...
If you never stress your immune system it will be a weakling for times of real need. There are studies that suggest our antiseptic, bubble wrapped, world where kids never roll in the dirt contribute to allergies and susceptibility to disease.
When I use public bathrooms I routinely, after washing hands, use the paper towel to grab the door handle. I also use the side of my fist (instead of fingertips) to push toilet handles.
Trying to keep yourself healthy with simple, low effort, sensible precautions is not funny, it’s the ultimate in practicality. It’s living in the real world.
Your humor detector is not working right.
I remember once I was flying over the Pacific, which is a loooong flight, and there was a guy who came out from behind the first class curtain with his young son holding his hand, the were walking to stretch their legs, I guess, and every time his son would go to touch something, he would say “dirty!” So they are walking around and it’s “Dirty! .... Dirty! ..... Dirty, dirty!” until they disappeared up the other row back into first class.
I figure if I baby my immune system too much, it will let me down when I really need it. George Carlin had a bit on that.
The term OCD gets tossed about too casually. It’s not OCD to want to protect your health with simple low-effort steps.
OCD is when you have to leave to flip light switches multiple times to avoid awful death for your family.
Not the same thing at all.
On the other hand, I assume whenever I fly I am going to get sick, based on past experience, so I drive unless it is really time sensitive. Which is rare for a retired guy not to have two or three days to drive someplace.
Back before wipes existed my Mother would carry a small bottle of Lysol in order to wipe down toilet seats.
Lysol wipes? Jebus, those taste awful.
OCD is when you have to leave to flip light switches multiple times to avoid awful death for your family.
The bad part is when you lose track of how many times and you have to start over - there goes another 10 minutes!
I totally endorse the idea of checking for bedbugs in every hotel room. We recently stayed in a cabin at a state park and had a big scare for a few days after we got home, when I found myself covered with itchy bites. (Not mosquito bites and the park confirmed that there was evidence of bedbugs in our cabin). I have not gotten any new bites for a couple of weeks but I vacuumed and washed all of our bedding and clothes in hot water every day for a while and had an exterminator come over to check, he didn't find anything but "just in case" he recommended a treatment plan for $975. So far we are declining that option. But always check, especially the seams in the mattresses, for little brown spots, if you find them leave immediately.
"I actually sat next to one of these wipe using nuts. She meticulously wiped the arms and the tray making a huge deal of it. Loathsome woman"... "Wipes are a good idea, but you don’t need 20 to 30."
Yeah, that's why I think the WaPo commenter is making fun of the kind of people who use wipes. She's overstating how ridiculous they are.
I don't think the person complaining about OCD is a satirist.
I recently read a jovial post by a nurse listing metaphors of things might do in other areas of life that wouldn't go over, yet they try them at hospitals (e.g. After having a plumber fix your pipes, tell them about your electrical problems and ask the plumber's opinion on those electrical issues why they are there. When the plumber refuses, write a negative survey about them.) The response to the post was a complaint that the nurse was insensitive to people with mental illness, as there was another metaphor about assaulting a nurse which is common issue with mentally ill patients. As a society, we wonder why their is a shortage of personnel in the medical industry.
Anyway, enjoying the travelling advice and the idea of Glenlivet pods. I head to the UK later today. Hopefully I'll find some pods laying around or a pub. Mostly likely I'll find a pub. Enough whisky and I won't care who touched the tv remote in the hotel room.
"Leave your black light at home; you don’t want to know what’s on the bedspread!"
Seems to me hotels don't use bedspreads anymore.
I remember those awful heavy things that were everywhere 30 years ago, but these days, the top layer on a hotel bed is a washable duvet or some kind of sheet-like contraption that surrounds a comforter.
Here's another travel 'hack': check your effing bag if you are packing a closet of cleaning supplies.
If I recall, there was a study to find out where the most germs were: turned out, it was gas pump handles.
I'll add my travel tip: it doesn't matter what you touch. But if you are going to touch your eyes, nose or mouth, or anything you are going to shove near those orifices, wash your hands first. Trying to clean the world around you is a fruitless exersize.
I hold with Madison Man on this.
I used to play golf with an older gentleman who was an RAF pilot in WWII. We stopped off at a restroom and while standing at the urinals he said "You know Wilbur, I much prefer to go to the restroom when no one else is in there." Why's that? "Then I don't gave to wash my hands afterwards".
My immune system works just fine. You germ-a-phobes need a summer job slinging garbage cans and bags like I did 40 years ago. You'd get over your phobia real quick, or you'd have to quit after the first stop on your route.
Democracy Dies in Darkness!
When I use public bathrooms I routinely, after washing hands, use the paper towel to grab the door handle.
Except that now the enviro-nuts have gotten rid of paper towels in favor of air blowers, which studies show merely blow minute particles of fecal matter around in the air (and onto your hands, clothes, in your face, etc.).
"Then I don't gave to wash my hands afterwards".
My immune system works just fine.
So, would like that same attitude with your doctor? Or dentist? Or someone who then wants to shake hands with you? Or the restaurant guy who handles your food or utensils?
"I think the WaPo commenter is making fun of the kind of people who use wipes. She's overstating how ridiculous they are." Ever been held up boarding an airplane while the parents of a peanut-allergic child wet-wipe all the seats in the row they're seated in, the row forward of that row, and the row aft? I have. And the parents were vocally miffed that they were not allowed to wipe down the three rows forward and the three rows aft.
OCD is the fear disease.It is also a disease of the intelligent, who can think of so many different things to fear. My son had a serious case of it. You are not crazy, but you think things you "know" are crazy, so it can drive you crazy (and your family).
At least now we have drugs that can help. Howard Hughes, one of the richest men in the world had OCD, not that long ago. All his money could not buy him medicine. Today we have things that can/might work.
Our brain is a very strange object. We have at least 5 "brains", and a subconscious with a mind of its own. We do not understand mental illness. Fear is non-rational, as are all the other emotions, so even more difficult to treat. Also, we are the easiest to fool, because it is very hard to learn what we know, is not true.
MANN'S ASSUMPTION (n.) - imagine that everything in the world has been in someone's butt.
(in it's original form, Mann's Assumption was just for "everything in a hotel room")
https://twitter.com/hotdogsladies/status/166405782282313728
Having dealt with uncontrollable worry about germs since probably ca. SARS days as a heavy traveler and then being truly shocked to be in and observe a near empty Hong Kong International Airport at midday, it seems that it matters less what your hands and fingers come into contact with if you keep them unwashed off your face and out of your eyes and mouth. You can't keep the grimy mitts of airport security people off of your stuff no matter how much you yell at them. Some funny faces trying to address all those itchy nose sites though.
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