Friday, December 03, 2010

Germphobia

Yesterday my husband was working in the yard and left the side gate open. I heard the jingle of Sally's collar, and realized she had gotten out! It didn't take long to find her; all I had to do was follow the barking of the next door neighbor's dog. I called Sally to me and she came running happily. She ran and ran....right past me, and over to the next neighbor's house to fence fight with their dogs. :S At one point she ran up on to their front porch and I thought, "Ah ha! I have her trapped!" But she saw me coming and started to run past me. So I did the same thing that I do with my kids, and I grabbed for hair. ;) But I didn't get a good handful, and she pushed on past, knocking me off balance. Instinctively I reached out to grab something to help me catch myself. But unfortunately I grabbed my neighbor's rose bush....

So there I was, with bleeding scratches all over my hands, chasing my stupid dog. I caught her when she stopped in an alcove to sniff another dog behind a fence, and she couldn't get past me this time. But for the rest of the day I was nursing scratched up hands. I even had to pull out a few thorns. My husband and I ran errands all day, and I began to become very paranoid about my open wounds! They weren't bleeding, and I didn't want bandages covering my hands, so I didn't put on any bandaids. But I kept thinking about my neighbor who has a staff infection, and I kept thinking about things like flesh eating bacteria. Needless to say, I was washing my hands a lot and using sanitizer all day.

But then I remembered something my grandparents swore by, that I had seen at the dollar store. I bought the $1 no name brand, but it is a liquid bandaid. I have to say that I think I"m going to buy the name brand! This stuff is great! It stays on better than a bandaid. It is clear, so no one sees it. And it nicely sealed up all the openings where germs might have gotten in.

Just by way of memory lane, here are some things in my grandparents' medicine cabinet that they swore by:
Wormwood tea= I think I actually read that this is poisonous, but it does cure diarrhea.
Golden Seal Root Powder= This is VERY good for you. It can heal a canker sore in your mouth overnight. But it's probably the nastiest tasting stuff known to man.
Pink Medicine= My grandparents sold "Raleigh" brand drug store items, and this was their equivalent of "Pepto Bismol". I don't even think "pink medicine" was the name, but that's what we all called it. :)
New Skin= I believe this was the brand name of the liquid bandage they used. It came in a container like a fingernail polish bottle, with a brush. Pretty good stuff.

But I confess that I am a bit of a germ-o-phobe. If I'm in the store, and someone sneezes or coughs, I either turn the other way, or hold my breath until I'm past them. Does that mean I'm crazy phobic? And I'm still being really cautious about any open wounds. Time will tell if my phobic ways do any good!

3 comments:

Nene said...

I was in the Atlanta airport one time during flu season. I was in the tram going from one terminal to another. Right before we took off, I said to the man standing beside me, "You can hold onto this pole with me if you want." He said, "I don't like to touch things that other people touch." So see, you're not the only germaphobe around! :0) But I agree with you and the first thing I do when I get home from a store is wash my hands or used anti-bacterial gel, or both! :0)

Dee Ice Hole said...

I am sure you missed the merthiolate that used to be in your grandparents medicine chest. ;-)

Marla said...

I am the same way about people sneezing/coughing and open wounds. Gotta be careful these days.