Social Distancing, 7 – Elevens and Department Store Flu Shots

Just last night, someone, Audrey Shaffer, suggested I get back to my rather skewed day to day observations.

This might make me sound old or daft or maybe certifiable but I am going to share it anyway.

Who remembers dime stores?  Now we have huge department stores that are filled with many focused dime stores.

Even now I have a hard time accepting the idea of 7 – Eleven stores that sell food, beer, condoms and economy packs of diapers to the guy who just gassed up his car.  A grocery store without a bank, deli, florist, coffee shop and pharmacy is an incomplete store.

A few years ago, I got a flu shot at our local Big K-mart.  It seemed wrong at the time and it seems wrong now.  You all remember H1N1 and this year’s flu has hit at least 44 states and is spreading fast.

I go to a lot of trouble to avoid those nasty germs.  My favorite method is called Social Distancing.  Let me share a bit about this avoidance technique.  I’ve posted about this before, but it is a new year.

Social Distancing.

It is a simple thing.  Don’t go around touching everyone you meet.  Don’t go around touching everything you see.  Don’t touch anything sharp.

At the gym I used to visit there is a sign advising consumers to clean the machines before they use them.  It also advises the user to clean the machine again when they are done.  I think this is a perfect idea.  Especially if you are germ phobic.

I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car.  A quick rub as I leave the car and another squirt when I get back into the car.  A bit like the gym’s suggestions.  Who wants your steering wheel germs?  Who wants other people’s store germs on their steering wheels?

Quit touching items then touching your face.  We touch our faces and hair, a lot!

Take your own pen to places you suspect you’ll be signing something.  If you have to use the store’s pen on a card swiping machine – run to your car before you touch your face, again.  Avoid bank machines or anything that requires you to touch a screen that has been touched by who knows who.

Someone needs to make personal sized wet wipes for bank machines and swipe stations.

Bigger stores have wipes at the door so you can wipe down your cart but no one uses those wipes to clean off the small shopping baskets.

Be aware that people around you will see your germ avoidance as possible obsessive compulsive behavior.  And resist the urge to plastic wrap little kids.  That just causes trouble on too many levels.

You are welcome to share your favorite germ avoidance techniques.  Just leave a comment.

Till next time – Don’t touch Anything Sharp…