I would say I am obsessive about the hand washing....i think it's really helped avoid illness, but nothing is 100%.
Had one guy last week come back to work, shake my hand, and then proceed to tell me he was still fighting horrible flu and bronchitis. I thought "oh great...i really wanted to shake that hand". At work it always helps to have a coffee cup in one hand and a bunch of papers in the other and most wont stick out their hand for a shake seeing that you have no hands free. Leaving public bathrooms these days ya notice how many don't wash their hands? Church is about the worst for lots of handshaking.
I got a chuckle out of your post.
For several years I worked with a brilliant and very well educated fisheries biologist. He said he very seldom ever washed his hands during the workday. He believed that it would build up his antibodies.
A long tradition in the Lutheran Church was the "peace be with you" handshake and/or hug from all those around you during or after a Sunday service. During one of the more serious flu outbreaks in the last 10-15 years, Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion was joking about how the Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church was suspending the tradition during the flu season. Lynda and I regularly attend three different Lutheran churches near our homes in WV, VA and NC. All stopped the tradition about that time. It is now a rather rare occurrence.
I know I haven't missed a flu shot at least since I got drafted in 1969. So far so good.
Ken
