Places Where You Better Keep Your “Germ Guard” Up!

I read an article recently in a national newspaper and watched a network news TV show that did a similar story. They were both sharing information about locations where Americans most likely can come in contact with Covid or other viruses and germs.
Everyone knows that generally, public bathrooms are nasty. They’re germ-filled. Even before the Covid-19 virus became our reality, I’ve been turned off and very cautious when using public bathrooms for as far back as I can remember. When I’ve had to use a public bathroom in recent months, for instance, when at the airport going to attend my Godmother’s homegoing service, I was super careful. I tried my best not to touch anything without my latex gloves on. I also didn’t linger in the ladies’ room at the airport trying to primp in the mirror. I didn’t want to be in that closed-in space with so many strangers from all over the world.
Public transportation is high up on the list of places where a person can very likely come into contact with the virus. Once again, you have people riding in a closed-in space. While the rule still remains that face masks must be worn on public transportation, Covid, I believe, is still managing to linger in the air. Some people are breathing Covid right into their bodies, unfortunately. Particularly unvaccinated folk. I want to believe that the management of SEPTA, Amtrak, Greyhound, and the airlines are all doing their due diligence to clean, reclean and then reclean again all vehicles and modes of transportation they have that hundreds of thousands of people use daily. Be careful SCOOP Readers, those of you who do depend on public transportation to get yourself around. Just like you keep a SEPTA Transpass in your wallet, keep some hand sanitizer or sanitizer wipes with you at all times. Wiping things off has become the norm in the times we’re living through. As for face masks, I’ve learned to keep 3 or 4 of them at a time in the glove compartment of my car, and at least 2in my handbag. That way, I can’t go wrong. A facemask for me has become like wearing underwear. You don’t leave the house without it.
Hotels, Motels, Bed and Breakfast situations, as for me, since there was a serious bed bug crisis in cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago, maybe about 5 or 6 years ago, I don’t walk into any of those places without acting like Inspector Jones from the major crimes unit. Honest to goodness I’m not exaggerating.
When I come into a hotel room that I’ve booked or my husband has booked, I pull back the sheets, all the way down to the mattress, and check for bugs. I have a special light and I can shine in a dark room on the bedspread and carpet and walls for any secretions or nasty things that prior guests may have left behind. And now because of Covid, I travel with my own Clorox bleach, Clorox wet wipes, and Lysol anti-septic spray. I’m telling you, I’m not fooling around. I spray down everythang!
I am not telling our readers don’t go to the airport, don’t go to hotels, don’t get on buses, or trains. What I am saying is that we all need to be prepared and carry cleaning items with us all the time. At places such as the Dollar Store, you can find mini-sized bottles of almost anything you need, ranging from laundry soaps to hand-washing soaps, to anti-septic wipes, to small packs of bleach, etc. Better to be prepared than caught not ready for prime time.
I hate to tell you this, but grocery stores are another place where viruses like Covid linger and come and go all day from certain customers who are carriers of these viruses and may not even realize it. When the pandemic was really raging about a year ago, any supermarket or grocery store you went into, you would see hand sanitizer and paper towels where each shopping cart handle was being wiped down after every use by a customer. Nowadays, in most of the supermarkets where I shop, I don’t see that practice happening anymore. That’s why I say come prepared with your own stuff. Some supermarkets still have sanitizer and paper towels where you, the customer, can wipe down your own shopping cart handle. Others do not. Have your own products to wipe down areas where strangers’ hands have been in an effort to avoid Covid. All through the store, as people shop, me included, we touch items. In the fruit and veggie sections, I definitely may touch a number of cucumbers or green peppers until I get to the ones that have the firmness I’m seeking. Same thing with my fruits. I don’t want any too soft cherries or grapes, etc. We’re all touching things as we shop. I was wearing plastic gloves when I went food shopping a year ago, but I’ve stopped that practice in the last 9-months or so. After reading the reports I’ve read in the last 48 hours, I’m thinking about going back to wearing the gloves when I shop as well.
It’s that serious folks. Covid, ain’t no joke.
Another place where many of us go is to the gas station. How many thousands of hands a week touch the fuel pumps? Think about it. I keep hand sanitizer in my car, in the pocket on my door on the driver’s side of the vehicle. Soon as I finish pumping gas before I touch my steering wheel even, I’m putting sanitizer on my hands.
It was reported that schools are a hotbed for transmitting illnesses, with Covid right now being at the top of that list. Yet the “powers that be” around the nation decided all our children must be back in school for in-person learning this Fall. Every night on the news, I keep hearing stories about children of varying ages in different cities now being hospitalized due to Covid. Some dying. But what the heck, the school doors are wide open. Come on in kids. (I’m being sarcastic here).
The last location I’m going to share with you for now: It’s the playground. Parents and other caregivers of children, take sanitizer and bleach wipes to the playground before you allow your precious little ones to go sliding down a germed-up sliding board or climbing on some monkey bars, or gripping the handle of a swing set.
We have to “get on with life.” I understand that. But we don’t have to be reckless about how we move forward. The smart ones of us will be careful, cautious, and thoughtful as we proceed.