Hand Sanitizer Hostility

Today I have decided to take a stand and express my perspective against hand sanitizer. That's right. HAND SANITIZER! Most of the time when I mention to people that I am against all forms of hand sanitizer, they give me this look like I am slightly crazy and might be waiting for a story about the time I got abducted by aliens. Is it really that bizarre to detest the stuff? I think it's bizarre that people swear by it and carry multiple tubes around with them at all times. I don't care if it's scented with lavender, coconut-pie, new leather smell or key-lime, it's not going in my shopping cart.

The reason I am dead against the stuff is that the only times I ever get sick is within 24-48 hours of using it. Now this is the part in the conversation in which I get the strange looks, but it's totally and completely true! How could someone make something like this up? I get a cold maybe once a year. If that. Colds are not my style and I do a fairly good job at avoiding them. But then a day will come where my hands will get something especially nasty on them when I'm out and about, and my only resort to any kind of cleanliness is a couple of squirts from one of those public hand sanitizer dispensers. And them BAM! By the next day or day after that, it all starts with a sore throat and I know I've lost my battle with cold-aversion. It's hard to avoid these dispensers though. They're in banks, grocery stores, restaurants, gyms, classrooms, clothing stores, washroom, public parks, offices, drug stores, coffee shops...and every five steps in between. Taunting you. Reminding you of everything that you touched, making you second guess your personal hand cleanliness. 

Why do we feel the need to destroy all of the bacterial on our hands continuously throughout the day? Do you know why it is recommend for babies to crawl around on the floor and put things in their mouths? To eat bacteria and build their immune systems! If we go around killing every teeny tiny bacteria that might come in contact with a mucousal membrane (nose, mouth) then we'd might as well not breathe the air. We'd might as well live in a bubble and avoid every surface and every person who might come in contact with us. Our skin is covered all of the time with millions of friendly bacteria that are there to keep us healthy, and we're going out spending money on products to kill them off. 

When did the obsession of insane hand cleanliness start? Oh wait...I remember. It was when H1N1 was exploding on the scene and everyone was freaking out of coming down with it. When was that...2008? 2009? Sometime in there. I remember being in university and suddenly there were machines everywhere squirting chemicals in your direction if your hand brushed near. At first I thought that it was neat that people were being proactive in the fight against evil viruses and I'll admit that I used the antibacterial gel on more than one occasion, but overall not that often. But then I started to get more colds. Hmmm. It took me a while to find the correlation between using hand sanitizer and developing a head-cold, but as time went on, I figured it out and have been avoiding all kinds of hand sanitizer ever since. But as I mentioned, every so often my hands get uncontrollably gross and a handy-dandy dispenser is always near to entice me to place my palm underneath. Yesterday I fell for it once again and SHAZAM! Today I have a sore throat. It's been about a year since I last used the stuff. When will I learn?

I stopped at the dispenser and stared at it for a while before making the terrible decision of giving into it. Why did I do it? What is it that compelled me to give in when I knew the outcome would be a sore and snotty mess which would last for up to a week. Now I am double-dosing myself with Oil of Oregano in hopes of kicking this thing down before anything substantial develops in my head.

Wait...what? I haven't told you about my obsession with Oil of Oregano? Oil of Oregano is the most amazing substance that humans have discovered in the fight against...well...everything! I use it exclusively when I feel a cold coming on, but it is a powerful anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-parasitic and can help with problems such as digestive issues and skin infections. It can help boost your immune system, improve your joints and flexibility and even help with your respiratory system. People use it to treat warts, shingles, lice, headaches, bladder infections, acne, burns, bruises, candida overgrowth and dozens of more problems. It's amazing. Truly. I recommend everyone go out, buy a bottle and try it on your own personal symptoms. You can pick it up at any health store or even in the grocery store with all of the vitamins. 

While you're there, don't buy any hand sanitizer!