There is no corona virus where i live, but just as a good way to stay healthy, don't forget to sanitize your hands after every shop. Who knows what kind of nasty things are hanging out where we go.
Love, peace, chicken grease.

Great advice! I am one of those people who keeps a bottle of sanitizer in the door of my car and a small bottle in my purse. I sanitize during shops (food shops), too, you know, after touching the menu, etc. I have been that way for years...

Hand washing beats sanitizer. Also be certain you wash properly (and long enough) or you might as well skip it.

I do these things also. I eat out at restaurants weekly with my friends. I keep wipes in my purse and wipe off my silverware. Someone has to wrap the silverware in that napkin or arrange it on your table.
It is also best to ask for a wedge of lemon on the side instead of having it in your tea. Someone cuts up those lemon wedges. They say it is better to squeeze the juice into your tea and leave the lemon wedge out of your glass.

Of course handwashing is better than sanitizer. I don't happen to have a sink and faucet in my car.

@1cent wrote:

Hand washing beats sanitizer. Also be certain you wash properly (and long enough) or you might as well skip it.

Thanks for the reminder Texans! Many years ago I heard that lemon and lime rinds were some of the most commonly contaminated foods in restaurants and bars. Limes are my favorite part of a beverage and I always ask for extra limes. I guess I should start asking for them on the side.

They don't wash the limes and lemons before cutting them. It's not like they are organic, the peels have insecticide and other things on them, so the server touching them isn't that big of a deal. What's on the rind that was acquired during transport is probably a lot worse. When they cut through them, the knife goes through the rinds and contaminates the fruit inside. That being said, I like a lot of lemon in my tea, and servers have been tossing them into my tea for decades and I am still alive. I do usually just ask for a bowl of lemons when I order tea because I like lemon so much, and yeah, I squeeze it and discard the wedge after using it. But usually if I am dining somewhere I am drinking alcohol, not iced tea, LOL. If it's at my favorite sushi restaurant (not a shop) I get a pot of hot green tea if I am not feeling like a Kirin or Sapporo (I don't like saki).

@JASFLALMT wrote:

When they cut through them, the knife goes through the rinds and contaminates the fruit inside.

Duh, I forgot about that. Oh well, I guess squeezing is still better than letting the rind soak in my beverage. Although gin probably kills most everything anyway....

This!

Hand sanitizer kills some viruses. Hand washing kills most cooties.

@1cent wrote:

Hand washing beats sanitizer. Also be certain you wash properly (and long enough) or you might as well skip it.

I tell ya, when I figure out how to install that sink and faucet in my sedan, I will be doing just that. Meanwhile, sanitizer will have to do.

A pizza chain and a roast beef chain have a requirement that shoppers could not visit the restroom prior to starting the shop. I would go to the bathroom to wash my hands and start the shop when I left.

The first thing I do when I go to a restaurant is visit the restrrom to wash my hands. Problem with a restaurant shop is that then I pull out a chair to sit down, touching the back of the chair that many others have touched (you think the staff sanitizes and wipes the chair back? Doubt it), then I sit down and open the menu that many other people have touched. If its laminated, MAYBE it's been wiped off, but disinfected?
Can't be sure but probably not. I'm timing service and making observations, I can't very well get up and go wash my hands again immediately. My server brings me a glass of water and other beverage, he/she has been in contact with other people touching their credit cards, cash, pens, etc. I'm going to touch the glass when i drink from it.

Hand sanitizer can kill most pathogens. It's better than nothing, and if I had to wash my hands every time I touched something that someone else touched first, I'd spend the entire visit in the restroom.

Typing on my phone.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2020 01:34AM by JASFLALMT.

Thats why I wash everything before cutting it at home, onions, avocados, etc.

@DonRoon wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

When they cut through them, the knife goes through the rinds and contaminates the fruit inside.

Duh, I forgot about that. Oh well, I guess squeezing is still better than letting the rind soak in my beverage. Although gin probably kills most everything anyway....

Hand washing the best, but most people do not do it properly.
Sanitizer is overused. The bugs just get stronger.
And where has your mobile phone been lately? Chances are your phone has more pathogens than what you have listed above.

Not a chance. I clean mine daily.

some1 mentioned taking vitamins and eating more healthy/nutritious foods

That's important for a good immune system in case you get sick.

I think exercising and having good cardio could help too.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I tell ya, when I figure out how to install that sink and faucet in my sedan, I will be doing just that. Meanwhile, sanitizer will have to do.

They have HAND-HELD mini UV-light vacuums nowadays. As you vacuum, the UV-light at some point zaps stuff too.

Sunlight kills all sorts of microbes and even breaks down mold and fungal spores. Now you can have the power of the sun in a mini UV vac. I think UV light sticks/wands have always been around. But, I'm not sure how practical those are or how safe.

UV can be dangerous, so you have to take proper precautions. I thinkn the vacuums have the UV light in a sealed area, so maybe there's nothing you have to do.

Have you considered buying a hazmat suit and/or purchasing a ticket into outer space (and living there), JASF?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2020 04:20PM by shoptastic.

also make sure you don't sanitize too much...

I've heard of cases where people went blind and/or compromised their body's natural defenses from over use of sanitizers.

Do it in moderation. This is coming from a germ-a-phobe!

Hey, if you're offering to buy it for me, maybe.

@shoptastic wrote:

Have you considered buying a hazmat suit and/or purchasing a ticket into outer space (and living there), JASF?

You sure you are talking about sanitizer? My mom used to tell my brother...nevermind.

@shoptastic wrote:

I've heard of cases where people went blind...
Do it in moderation.

I am always fascinated by the changes that have happened over my lifespan.

I was probably 10 or 11 before I met my first person who had allergies--she was allergic to grass and at summer camp had to wear high socks and carry something to sit on rather than sit on the grass. Where grass accidentally touched her skin she promptly broke out in "rashes".

The standard was that you washed your hands after using the restroom and before dinner.

I played at the house of a friend one weekend while her older brother and sister were not feeling well. By Monday they were sick enough the doctor stopped by their house. They both had come down with polio so we had to stay away for a while. (This was before the Salk polio vaccine was invented.)

Because it was inevitable we would get chicken pox, measles and mumps, we were subject to deliberate exposure to 'get it over with', so played with sick kids when they were feeling good enough to want company. Maybe the germs were less virulent or maybe our immune systems were stronger, but it usually took several such play dates before we finally caught the diseases. We were kept isolated with and from conjunctivitis because it was not a 'one and done' disease.

It was not unusual in grade school for about 25% of the class to have 'perfect attendance' for the year because we just didn't get sick that easily.

I have watched the research and behaviors over the years. It tends to show that children raised in too sanitized environments have lower overall immunity, overuse of antibiotics has made them ineffective for some folks, and misuse of antibiotics has developed superbugs. I am interested that the most current treatments for peanut allergies are controlled exposure to small quantities.

I don't/won't use hand sanitizers or antibacterial dish or hand soaps. In the gym I wipe down equipment I have used with their sanitizer because it is gym policy, but I don't use the wipes for cart handles at the grocery store. My sense is that small exposures over time help keep the immune system strong and active.

From what I have studied when taking classes for my massotherapy license and my medical transcription degree, immune defense begins in the gut. I also am a rep for a nutritional company and take supplements, including a probiotic. And, I eat nutritious foods. Take good care of your digestive tract.

I avoid antibiotics and can generally tell the difference between a bacterial infection and a viral infection. I rarely get sick, even though I wash my hands frequently and use sanitizer often.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

You sure you are talking about sanitizer? My mom used to tell my brother...nevermind.

@shoptastic wrote:

I've heard of cases where people went blind...
Do it in moderation.

GOOGLE:

"hand sanitizer overuse blind"

Let's see: Don't drink it. Don't get it in your eyes. I am not doing either.

If you are putting it on your hands as a temporary solution before you can get to a sink, I think you are probably going to be okay. Whatever amount of sanitizer I put on my hands is going to get washed off within an hour or two (as soon as I get to a sink). I am so NOT worried about going blind due to using hand sanitizer.

Booze kills both.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

This!

Hand sanitizer kills some viruses. Hand washing kills most cooties.

@1cent wrote:

Hand washing beats sanitizer. Also be certain you wash properly (and long enough) or you might as well skip it.

I always have handy dandy hand sanitizer (dangles from my bag as well as all DDs') as well as wipes. Menus are laden. Order and then run to the restroom to wash your hands. Don't touch anything afterwards and use a new paper towel to exit. Aim well to throw it in the trash before the door closes.

I will not waste good booze killing cooties!

Maybe that's why I don't get sick...too much wine?

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I will not waste good booze killing cooties!

Maybe that's why I don't get sick...too much wine?

Well, it's not about what's on your hands, but what gets inside of you. The skin on your hands is a protective barrier. Chasing any finger foods with a nice cocktail seems reasonable. Don't touch your eyes or pick your nose and you should be set for any occasion.

Theres no such thing.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

...too much wine?

Don't you hate it when all they have in the restroom is an air dryer and no paper towels? I sure do. Yeah, the menu is laden with germs, but often after ordering I am taking timings to see how long it takes to receive my drink, appetizer, etc. and I can't leave the table to go wash my hands.

@Madetoshop wrote:

I always have handy dandy hand sanitizer (dangles from my bag as well as all DDs') as well as wipes. Menus are laden. Order and then run to the restroom to wash your hands. Don't touch anything afterwards and use a new paper towel to exit. Aim well to throw it in the trash before the door closes.