One of the labs we teach is an environmental sampling lab. Students go out and swab environmental samples onto a regular growth media plate and a plate with antibiotics in it. We use this to show them evolutionary adaptations and the need for cleanliness. Some of them come up with unique sources to check. We have had couches, banisters, purses, spare change, and the dirt outside tested for bacteria. Most of what we find is benign, but it always leads to a good discussion about what we found, where, and why.
Our janitorial staff has caught onto this. They try very, very hard to sanitize, especially towards the end of the semester when we send the students out to do this. One of the other professors, however, came up with something I had not considered that hammered home to me just how important it is to sanitize things yourself.
Sue suggested we swab the lock mechanism inside a stall. You see, when you go into a room to clean, you clean what you can see, what you're used to seeing, and where you expect to see obvious filth. However, even the most careful of humans will contaminate this lock lever, and we know that most students are neither careful nor health conscious. If that were the case, they wouldn't engage in all the risky behaviors that dominate their lives.
As I used the bathroom next after our chat, I thought about that handle. I looked at it. I wondered how many bacteria were growing on it and how long they had been there. I wondered if I should hire someone to come clean my house, because different people emphasise cleaning differently, and it might catch stuff I routinely miss. I wondered how many people at school get sick because they touch that and then leave the bathroom without washing their hands.
Ironically enough, this is a battle you can't ever completely avoid. I am surprised the statists among us don't say "Why bother cleaning up and trying to avoid getting sick? You should just do so with protection", because like the war on poverty and promiscuity, they are willing to surrender at the outset, but they ostensibly care about our health. Even the most careful person will catch something. I have known folks who got cancer or hepatitis, not because they were unsafe, but because of other people or random chance.
However, you can't catch a disease to which you are not exposed. Lather up and cleanse out every part of your life. Clean your house, your mind, your speech, your food, and your body. Poor Richard taught us that an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Just because you can't stop all instances doesn't mean you shouldn't try. You will survive 100% of the outbreaks you don't catch. I guarantee it.
"Tell Spencer to flush". --from "The Man Who Knew Too Little"
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