Your Most Disturbing Realizations

[V.C. Brunswick]

A few years ago when I was in between computers I had to go to the library to get online and there was this one woman who was there almost every day. I used to call her "Lotion Lady" because every five minutes she would apply lotion or hand sanitizer but not in the normal way. She would vigorously and loudly apply her lotion which became quite annoying hearing her constantly rubbing her hands.

 

[Fading Fast]

A few thoughts on the hand sanitizer craze. Like many things, what could be a good, small-niche product (I'm from the old school, I like to wash my hands before I eat, so if that's not possible, a hand sanitizer seems reasonable), is both pushed (Lizzie's BFM) and pulled (people convince themselves that they'll avoid colds if they use the stuff all the time) by the market until it becomes a craze being insanely overused (and finally, now, seems to have lost some steam in the last few years).

As to the health thing, hasn't it been "proven" or, at least, isn't it the medical community's consensus view that all this anti-bacterial stuff is contributing to both weaker immune systems and the rise of the super bugs? I'm with Lizzie that all this over hand-washing / sanitizing weakens one's natural immune system. Other than as noted above (when there is no way to wash ones hands), we don't use sanitizers nor do we buy all those antibacterial this or that product (but we do scrub our kitchen counters down - old school - for good food safety) and get significantly less colds than others I know.

That said, while I know that many illnesses have increase in that past decades, life expectancies have also gone up. Also, anecdotally, the older people I know today are in better health than when I was a kid. Heart medicine, kidney medicine and some fancy lens placement in his eyes has made my girlfriend's father a pretty healthy 86 year old - and none of his medicines where around 20+ years ago. Also, he would have been dead a decade and half ago without some emergency treatments that were also nearly new at the time. So yes, some things our modern world has done seems to be increasing some illnesses - no argument from me, that's happening, but the net, IMHO, is more people living longer and healthier lives.

 

[2jakes]

Smartphones.
They live in pockets & purses, rubbing against loose change & the receipt from the gas stations.
We use them everywhere, and set them on nearly any available surface.
Germs thrive in warm places. Not only does the smartphone generate it’s own heat,
it also gets help from your own body heat by spending time in your hands & next to your mouth.
Typical phones have more bacteria than your office workspace, and some have even more than
a toilet seat.
Not many folks think to disinfect their phones.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In the Era, glass mouthpieces were a popular gimmick for office phones -- it was easy to see if they were clean, and if not, to clean them before use. The Bell System didn't approve of these, but aftermarket manufacturers did a brisk business with them, and they were often given away free as an advertising doodad.

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^Growing up, one of my chores was cleaning our phones - taking the ear and mouthpieces off, cleaning them, and cleaning the outer case of the rest of the phone. Since I did that every week, ours never got more than a bid smudgy. But because I did that, I noticed phones in friend's houses - even houses that seemed very clean - and sometimes they were disgusting as, for whatever reason, cleaning the phone was just not on some people's housekeeping routine. They require regular cleaning or ugh.

 

[Trenchfriend]

To say nothing of being dependent on a vast capitalist infrastructure composed of pharmaceutical companies, industrial food combines, the American Medical Association, the insurance industry, and the Boys.

Meanwhile, I do notice that people tend to be a lot sicker with things like colds and other respiratory ailments. I have one person on the staff at work who's always coming down with something or other and taking days off -- and I note, not coincidentally, that he's the one always slathering himself in hand sanitizers and antibacterial this and that. Meanwhile, I never use any of that stuff, and hardly ever get colds. I think the Boys have done a very nice job convincing people to go out of their way to compromise their natural immune systems with all this antibactieral stuff, so that they'll get sick more often and thus become more dependent on other products pushed by the Boys and their masters. Call it tinfoil hattery, buit I'm not the one snotting and wheezing and coughing all the time...

Oh f..., one of our new-times SAGROTAN-DADDYS!!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

To say nothing of being dependent on a vast capitalist infrastructure composed of pharmaceutical companies, industrial food combines, the American Medical Association, the insurance industry, and the Boys.

Meanwhile, I do notice that people tend to be a lot sicker with things like colds and other respiratory ailments. I have one person on the staff at work who's always coming down with something or other and taking days off -- and I note, not coincidentally, that he's the one always slathering himself in hand sanitizers and antibacterial this and that. Meanwhile, I never use any of that stuff, and hardly ever get colds. I think the Boys have done a very nice job convincing people to go out of their way to compromise their natural immune systems with all this antibactieral stuff, so that they'll get sick more often and thus become more dependent on other products pushed by the Boys and their masters. Call it tinfoil hattery, buit I'm not the one snotting and wheezing and coughing all the time...

A little filth is good for the body.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A little filth is good for the body.

I keep a good supply under the refrigerator.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Already today, I could say to the kiddies:

"Kids, I´ve learned playing on the STREET, believe me!!"

 

[vitanola]

I keep a good supply under the refrigerator.

You "moderns"! That's why MY refrigerator (and my range) are up on legs.

And why I have a drain in the kitchen floor.

What I really want is a kitchen that flushes...

 

[Zombie_61]

A little filth is good for the body.

Yep. What good is having an immune system if you don't put it to use once in a while?

The only time I have ever used hand sanitizer in my life was on an Alaskan cruise in 2011. It was required every time we entered an on-board restaurant because they were trying to minimize the spread of the norovirus some of the passengers had brought on board. And the only time I've ever cleaned a telephone was at my last place of employment, and then only after my supervisor had used the phone on my desk. Not because of germs, mind you, but because his cheap after shave was nauseating.

Other than that, I wash my hands when they get dirty, but I'm not obsessive about it. The last time I caught a cold was two years ago, and before that it had been seven or eight years; I couldn't tell you when the last time was that I caught the flu. And the few times I have caught a cold in the last 15-20 years was due to my wife bringing one home from work and sharing it with me. I suppose I have a decent immune system, because I rarely get sick. If only it worked on back problems...

 

[kaiser]

My wife is a nurse and works in a hospital where she just about takes a bath in disinfectants every day. She is rarely sick, colds, flu, almost never. Her mother, who is now 87 and fit as a fiddle does not use disinfectants and is also almost never sick. It's genetics I suspect.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You "moderns"! That's why MY refrigerator (and my range) are up on legs.

And why I have a drain in the kitchen floor.

What I really want is a kitchen that flushes...

If I were designing The Pefect Kitchen, it'd have a drain right in the middle of the floor so you could hose it down like a garage or a factory. The older I get, the more impossible it becomes to bend over and clean anything. Fortunately, though, the older I get the worse my eyes are getting, so I rarely notice the filth.

Unless, of course, it moves.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@LizzieMaine

PS:
Your kids from the theatre will surely do a "subbotnik" for you.

 

[sheeplady]

When I graduated with my PhD I had just finished my second round of chemo, and was severely immune compromised. (White blood cell results are great if over 15, ok over 7, iffy over 4.... mine were 0.2) I was told not to go to any graduation events, because I'd likely die if I contacted anything. I'd worked on my degree for 7 years, and screw it, I deserved to go.

I went. I wore a mask, sanitized the hell out of myself, and didn't let anyone touch me. I survived, obviously. The only downside was that I had lost my hair two days before. That pissed me off, although everyone complemented my great hair or (if they knew about the cancer) how I hadn't lost my hair and got a great cut.

Interestingly enough, my white blood cell count was abysmal all that spring, summer, and fall (9 months). I normally get a cold at least once a season. I didn't get a cold until my last day of radiation, when illness could no longer delay my treatment.

 

[vitanola]

If I were designing The Pefect Kitchen, it'd have a drain right in the middle of the floor so you could hose it down like a garage or a factory. The older I get, the more impossible it becomes to bend over and clean anything. Fortunately, though, the older I get the worse my eyes are getting, so I rarely notice the filth.

Unless, of course, it moves.

That's what I did. That is also why I chose a "cabinet range" with a high oven in the left side, so that I don't have to get down on my knees to check the roast.

The Hoosier cabinet, with kerosine filled "ant traps" on the legs just above the casters allows me to bake and clean up with out worrying about a little spot of flour or sugar attracting vermin.

The largely un-fitted middle-class kitchen of the 1920's was probably the most labor-saving stuyle for the active cook. A big double drain board sink, for example, is so very easy to clean, with no crevices ir joints to catch dirt, and an open bottom where, say a mop bucket, rubbish pail and a stool may be stored, rather than the vile nastiness that is the usual under sink cupboard.

To top it all, this sort of kitchen costs a small fraction of the price of a typical modern cooking space, and even when built with far, far more storage and cupboard space.

 

[sheeplady]

That's what I did. That is also why I chose a "cabinet range" with a high oven in the left side, so that I don't have to get down on my knees to check the roast.

The Hoosier cabinet, with kerosine filled "ant traps" on the legs just above the casters allows me to bake and clean up with out worrying about a little spot of flour or sugar attracting vermin.

The largely un-fitted middle-class kitchen of the 1920's was probably the most labor-saving stuyle for the active cook. A big double drain board sink, for example, is so very easy to clean, with no crevices ir joints to catch dirt, and an open bottom where, say a mop bucket, rubbish pail and a stool may be stored, rather than the vile nastiness that is the usual under sink cupboard.

To top it all, this sort of kitchen costs a small fraction of the price of a typical modern cooking space, and even when built with far, far more storage and cupboard space.

I've recently become obsessed with furniture on legs. In the next house, everything is going to be on legs (as far as cabinets). When we redid our kitchen in our 1942 cape, we removed the cabinets (1960s solid-wood and plywood versions that I stripped, we had no money for replacements). It was horrible underneath the cabinets (and I'm not a germophobe). The stove will be on legs, the fridge is on legs, the sink will be wall mount (and perhaps some of those beautiful legs).

Also, wall mounted faucets (no grime around the counter). I'm demanding all the facets be wall mount except in the upstairs bathroom, where due to being on an outside wall they have to be installed on the vanity.

We are planning on a dishwasher (honestly, that and a modern washer I can't leave behind) but I want our run of counter top to be built to my height rather than standard, so that may end up on legs too (not sure how that will work). I hate bending over to work, so I want a raised counter. And no upper cabinets. I am sick of having to get a chair in our current apartment to get things (the cabinets are mounted way too high).

They really were smart about cleaning in the twenties.

 

[2jakes]

Visiting a pro basketball player’s home is quite something to behold
as far as heights are concerned.

 

[Trenchfriend]

And if you got no passion, to wipe and wash around, just take the vacuum-cleaner and mostly, that's enough for allday.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Getting back to disturbing realizations- I was thinking as I read this site, of how nearly all the clothes, hats, furniture etc of bygone ages was worn out, decayed, thrown out and disappeared and what we have left is a small remnant that luckily survives in good condition. Then it occurred to me that the makers and original owners are ALL dead and gone if we are talking about things from much before WW2.