Are we sanitizing ourselves into oblivion?
When we were kids, we used to go outside and play…in the dirt. We’d come home so filthy you couldn’t tell us from the neighborhood boys, or the boy cousins, if we were visiting our grandfather’s farm.
Mom was lucky if we really washed our hands before dinner. We went swimming in lakes and stagnant ponds and went wading in drainage ditches and creeks.
There was no such thing as sanitizing wipes or antibacterial soaps. Do you remember the two-second rule for dropped food? Don’t forget to blow on it too.
We rolled in the grass, rode our bikes all day, played in the rain, and we seldom caught colds. Allergies? The closest I came to one as a child was a reaction to eating way too much fresh pineapple—I got a rash that went away the next day.
I have a novel idea…for the entire summer put away the kids’ computers, game boys, WIIs, X-boxes, cell phones, and other paraphernalia and take them outside to play. I mean really play and get filthy. They might get healthier.
In fact, moving around and doing something outside would do adults a lot of good too.
Posted on June 16, 2010, in Misc, My blog, Writer, Writing and tagged Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Doggonedmysteries 
My grandmother used to say, “a pound of dirt won’t kill you”. That 2 second rule has become the 5 second rule for things dropped on the floor. Undercautious? Nope, me thinks people are lazy or overweight enough where it’ll take 3 extra seconds to bend over and pick up that piece of toast, lol.
If it isn’t covered in hair or mud I say go for it.
This obsession with sterilizing everything in sight is denying us normal exposure to bacteria and viruses and preventing us from acquiring natural immunity. Then when a bug does nail us, it knocks us on our a** because we’ve never been exposed to it or a similar bug before.
There is nothing wrong with getting dirty, playing in the mud, drinking from the garden hose, digging in the dirt, and not (I repeat NOT) sterilizing your hands to the shoulder before picking up food.
So go out, get dirty, get some sun and fresh air. You’ll feel better and be healthier for it.
And that’s the truth!
I aree 100% I grew up on a small farm of 200 acres ,3 ponds & a creek at the edge of the property & I only wore shoes when it was absolutly neccesary & even then under pressure to put them on
Shoes? I’d do the same thing. I hated them–still do.
Funnily enough we were talking about this recently and wondering how we had survived so long!
I remember visiting my brother at Boy’s Brigade camp and the first thing the mothers did was to wash the little boys. They had been there about a week and I don’t think they had washed once!
The Curate who was in charge of them looked just as filthy as they did. 🙂
Ah, yes the camping experience. I’ve done that and survived.
Interesting new look. Is that your neighborhood cemetary?
As far as clean – I’m with Dave, over kill is definitely the name for it. Who in their right mind would want the chemicals needed to be constantly used to keep anything anyone might touch free of everything?
Yes, that’s the cemetary next door.
Me, I want to play in the dirt every day, it’s just that at my age it’s now called gardening.
Or as my friend would say, Garden of Weedin’ LOL