There are so many people sick in Hawaii these days. I just talked to my brother who had a sudden bout of stomach flu. His whole family has some kind of illness right now.
When I was teaching it was a guarantee that I'd get sick twice a year, in spring and fall. I may have managed to escape getting the cold once, but it was an expectation that I would get very sick at least once a school year and it would always attack my respiratory system. It would stay with me for a month or more. I'd wear a scarf around my neck and cover my mouth with it if I had to cough. I also washed my hands constantly.
It was hard not to get sick with children coughing and sneezing even though I did teach them to cough into their elbows instead of their hands. Interestingly, Art almost never caught my cold.
When we were in Japan we saw lots of people wearing masks. I thought they were sick and being polite by not spreading their germs but I was told that they were actually protecting themselves from catching a cold.
Mom and I got sick when we were in Japan last spring and we did wear the masks so we wouldn't spread our germs.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if people wore masks here in the U.S. to prevent their germs from spreading?
I just saw medical advice on TV about using your knuckle when pressing the elevator button so you wouldn't get the flu germ and transfer it to your face. You have to avoid touching things with your hands when out in public.
Actually, since moving to Hawaii 4 years ago, Art and I haven't been as sick. I think it's because we aren't out in the public quite as much. However, I do see lots of people who are very ill. It makes me want to barricade ourselves in our house. I thought people wouldn't get sick in Hawaii as much since we don't have the change in seasons. Wrong.
I guess we just have to make sure we drink lots of fluids, eat healthy food and get enough rest and exercise because I have a feeling wearing a mask in Hawaii will have people thinking we're really odd. I'm really tempted though.
When I was teaching it was a guarantee that I'd get sick twice a year, in spring and fall. I may have managed to escape getting the cold once, but it was an expectation that I would get very sick at least once a school year and it would always attack my respiratory system. It would stay with me for a month or more. I'd wear a scarf around my neck and cover my mouth with it if I had to cough. I also washed my hands constantly.
It was hard not to get sick with children coughing and sneezing even though I did teach them to cough into their elbows instead of their hands. Interestingly, Art almost never caught my cold.
When we were in Japan we saw lots of people wearing masks. I thought they were sick and being polite by not spreading their germs but I was told that they were actually protecting themselves from catching a cold.
Mom and I got sick when we were in Japan last spring and we did wear the masks so we wouldn't spread our germs.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if people wore masks here in the U.S. to prevent their germs from spreading?
I just saw medical advice on TV about using your knuckle when pressing the elevator button so you wouldn't get the flu germ and transfer it to your face. You have to avoid touching things with your hands when out in public.
Actually, since moving to Hawaii 4 years ago, Art and I haven't been as sick. I think it's because we aren't out in the public quite as much. However, I do see lots of people who are very ill. It makes me want to barricade ourselves in our house. I thought people wouldn't get sick in Hawaii as much since we don't have the change in seasons. Wrong.
I guess we just have to make sure we drink lots of fluids, eat healthy food and get enough rest and exercise because I have a feeling wearing a mask in Hawaii will have people thinking we're really odd. I'm really tempted though.
It is always fun to shake hands with someone and then have them tell you bout the rotten illness they have just gotten over. Did they really get over it or are you suddenly contaminated? You are right, everyone seems to be sick this season. We have home health care and I can't help but wonder what the workers are carrying into our home.
ReplyDeleteDear Granny Annie -- most home health workers have an exact pattern that they use to keep their bag of supplies from being contaminated between houses, or from picking up pet dander. Most are using gloves and washing their hands alot. DrumMajor
DeleteThis really is an awful flu season and I heard last night that the stomach flu is also gaining ground. I have a friend who is allergic to everything and will wear a mask in public. I admired her courage for she is always the only one and draws stares. Yesterday in Walmart I saw several masked people. Perhaps if more of us did, it would not carry the "strange" stigma.
ReplyDeleteGuess all your tourists are delivering your flu personally. How thoughtful :(
I wash my hands after I've taken delivery of parcels at the door, after I pick up the mail, after the groceries have been delivered. I rarely use my hands to open doors when I'm out and I carry antiseptic wet wipes which I use surreptitiously if I have to use grab rails in trains or on escalators. I'm neurotic!! However, Barry is convinced my immune system is stronger than his because of all the years I spent teaching children and being exposed to their germs. I think it's just that women are stronger than men ;-)
ReplyDeleteI reckon that any teacher will have built up a strong immune system over time. My son's at the beginning of his career and has had two infections in his first term. I'm rarely ill now that I've retired though. I always use the back of my hand to press the knob on the hot air hand dryer, though I'm not too fussy generally. I always remember the old saying 'You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die' and reckon that you need to keep any immunity you've built up by occasional exposure to germs. I've never seen anyone wearing a mask in the UK, I reckon you'd be thought pretty bonkers.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you have built up immunity from all those yesrs getting sick as a teacher! I know a lot of people with coughs and colds right now!
ReplyDeleteI agree , its probably because you are not in the public as much.I agree, people should wear masks, they have started here in our Canadian city, they are on the counter in all clinics and hospitals and you can buy them in the drug store, very good idea,
ReplyDeleteYour title is not too promising. I saw a map on the news of all the states afflicted with flu. There were 4 that aren't, as yet. I started wearing a mask when I do my 5 mile walk. The air is so crappy. I do notice Japanese people wearing masks when I go to Seattle. Smart
ReplyDeleteI got the stomach flu on the way home from visiting Texas for Thanksgiving but seem to have been spared from the flu, so far. I don't see many sick people, but I take care not to open doors with my bare hands (in winter I am wearing gloves) and wash my hands frequently. I also got a flu shot in November. :-)
ReplyDeleteeveryone is sick around here too
ReplyDeleteWell, if you wear a mask in public, you can always write on it first: "To protect me," which would guarantee a close stare.
ReplyDeleteI like those boxes of pull-down paper towels that sit ontop of a towel bar in the home. (Stocked where napkins and kleenex are at the store.)
One report states they think the vaccine for this winter doesn't cover one version of the flu going around. Still good to get the shot to minimize whatever is going around. I like the knuckle idea, as I hate to touch stuff in public.
We nurses decided the germiest thing in the hospital are the hardcover / binders holding patient's paper charts: everyone handles them, puts them on patient beds, tables, etc. You should see what comes off when clerks have time to clean them. Most nurses wipe down the computer keyboards before their shifts. But there is pressure to come to work even if ill because of staffing shortages. I won't do it.
Conclusion: You're probably safer at home and in public than the hospital?!
DrumMajor
I was at a large retirement party tonight for a pilot cousin and was almost paranoid about the germs that were probably flying around the room. I always get nervous when we go to Tripler too.
DeleteI am not generally too fussy about germs in public places but what I am hearing about this flu season has made me a lot more careful. I never see anyone wearing a mask around here.
ReplyDeleteIt's a challenge not to get sick...especially with grandkids!
ReplyDeleteI don't get sick often, and usually husband is the one that succumbs while I get over it quickly. We carry alcohol spritzers in the car. I spray my hands upon returning to the car or whenever I think I've touched something questionable. I do this so often that it's a habit. On our trip, I found myself touching the elevator buttons with my knuckle and opening bathroom doors with paper towels. I especially don't like to flush the toilet without the seat cover down. The cold we had last month was pretty nasty. The cold windy weather on some days only made it harder for my husband to get better. He'd start the day saying he think he's over it and by the end of the day he's back to feeling sick.
ReplyDeleteL...w
When I worked at a preschool I got sick several times each year...and I could usually attribute it to a specific child who'd coughed or sneezed directly in my face. I started "naming" the colds with that child's name.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same here Kay. Seems like everyone is sick and I don't want it. I had an annual appt at Dr this week and I put my hand in my jacket to push the elevator button...ha. didn't want to touch it. I've been washing my hands like crazy, since that is recommended. Good luck, hope you stay well.
ReplyDeleteWhy not. That's where I saw my first masks. It's the best idea of all.
ReplyDeleteMy secretary ended up with eczema b/c she was constantly using those anti-bacterial hand gels. It seems the amount of alcohol in those solutions are what are harmful (to your soft hands). Appears that good old soap and water is the best, or those baby-wipes that don't have alcohol (always carry that in my car).
ReplyDeleteJust heard that Tulsa schools are closed as 1/4 of all students are ill with flu.
ReplyDeleteWe always take our flu shots and I take mega doses of vitamins, especially probiotics. Haven't been sick for many years, even when teaching. My office mate, who sat across from me was always getting a cold, but not me.
After our granddaughter was born, Terry would get every cold she got until I told him he should take the probiotics that I take. He started taking them and hasn't had a cold since even though there are now 2 grandchildren to cough and sneeze on us. I did get a coughing spell right before Christmas. Felt fine except for this annoying cough. Terry never got it. I've heard of others who had a similar ailment but ended up in the hospital with pneumonia.
The mask idea is great, and itt would also be wonderful if folks simply got a flu shot. My goodness, I don't understand the ignorance concerning flu shots. Dianne
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog a lot, and I am endeavoring to be positve, I'm trying hard, but those masks must go! Oh, that picture of you and your mother! As an artist manque and maudit*, I am speaking aesthetically not medically, of course. Hey, that sounds like a potential Gilbert and Sullivan-type patter song rhyme: aesthetically/medically. I faithfully get a flu shot every Fall because when I get sick, I crash big time. On the other hand, I never get sick in Hawaii, knock on wood (he taps his head).
ReplyDelete*"Manque" (with an accent mark) is French for "lost." Maudit is French for "damned."
I was thinking: one valid response to my comment might be, "learn how to spell your own name, Buster."
DeleteYou are just too funny, Hank!
DeleteI was the same, fewer colds when teaching. Those grandkids just give me everything and it hits hard!
ReplyDeletePeople are awful about going out when sick, too.
Cheers from Cottage Country!
Since I left teaching I hardly ever get sick. I do have a very strong immune system, and I do have a very healthy life style. (knock on wood!)
ReplyDeleteblessings...
ReplyDeletehmmmm, that is a challenge, not touching anything in public, how do you hold on in public transportation if there are no seats? How do you move through a crowded train while moving without using the bars for support. I don't know that not touching anything is practical rather perhaps walk with a small bottle of hand sanitizer and wash your hands whenever possible if you were in contact with people coughing etc.
Many at work has the flu, i just stay locked in my office with the window slightly open to bring in and circulate some fresh air.
At least 9 Palestinians over in the West Bank recently died from swine flu (H1N1). Oi.
ReplyDeleteI have to travel in the hot, stuffy, overcrowded trams and buses in Jerusalem. People are always coughing and sneezing. I thought of asking the Ministry of Health to start a campaign to teach the public how to cover their mouth and nose in such cases. One problem, I think, is that everyone (but me) uses Kleenex nowadays instead of handkerchiefs. Maybe we can get the bus company to distribute a free hankie to each passenger, so they get back into the habit?