[OT] Germ Rant

Maybe it's just because I'm fighting off this grunge that has taken
possession of my lungs, sinuses and ears and won't vacate the premises no
matter what I've done, but I've become very attuned to TV commercials
advertising germ killing products (Lysol, Purell, etc.). I just watched
three in a row.

First of all, germs evolve just like any other animal or organism, they just
do so millions of times faster since their reproductive cycles are so short.
Purell just announced that it kills 99.9% of germs on your hands. Think
about it, what happens to the other .1%? *THOSE* are the germs who have
survived in the fight for survival of the fittest. They are the ones who
have not only been allowed to live and breed but have been selected by *US*
to pass their hardiness and ability to survive germ destroying substances on
to the next "generation" of germs.

When we get so compulsive, here in the US, with everything being "clean and
sanitized", what we're really doing is helping to breed the next unstoppable
pandemic! Is the risk really worth it just to avoid a few days or weeks of
illness?

I've always been of the philosophy that my children needed to eat a little
dirt in order for their immune systems to learn how to handle the stress.
They were never kept from animals because of a few sneezes or sniffles,
their bottles were never sterilized, I never freaked out if they ate a
grasshopper or picked up and ate some dropped food off the floor. The
result is that they are the most remarkably healthy adults I have ever known
in my lifetime. Neither have ever been hospitalized or even had an illness
serious enough to send them to their beds for more than a day.

Thankfully, they've learned these lessons well and are treating their own
children the same way, but I'm afraid that in the face of the rest of our
nation's germ-a-phobia this is just a drop in the ocean to counteract our
selective breeding of germicide-resistant organisms.

/rant

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Maybe it's just because I'm fighting off this grunge that has taken
possession of my lungs, sinuses and ears and won't vacate the premises no
matter what I've done, but I've become very attuned to TV commercials
advertising germ killing products (Lysol, Purell, etc.). I just watched
three in a row.

First of all, germs evolve just like any other animal or organism, they
just
do so millions of times faster since their reproductive cycles are so
short.
Purell just announced that it kills 99.9% of germs on your hands. Think
about it, what happens to the other .1%? *THOSE* are the germs who have
survived in the fight for survival of the fittest. They are the ones who
have not only been allowed to live and breed but have been selected by
*US*
to pass their hardiness and ability to survive germ destroying substances
on
to the next "generation" of germs.

When we get so compulsive, here in the US, with everything being "clean
and
sanitized", what we're really doing is helping to breed the next
unstoppable
pandemic! Is the risk really worth it just to avoid a few days or weeks
of
illness?

I've always been of the philosophy that my children needed to eat a little
dirt in order for their immune systems to learn how to handle the stress.
They were never kept from animals because of a few sneezes or sniffles,
their bottles were never sterilized, I never freaked out if they ate a
grasshopper or picked up and ate some dropped food off the floor. The
result is that they are the most remarkably healthy adults I have ever
known
in my lifetime. Neither have ever been hospitalized or even had an
illness
serious enough to send them to their beds for more than a day.

Thankfully, they've learned these lessons well and are treating their own
children the same way, but I'm afraid that in the face of the rest of our
nation's germ-a-phobia this is just a drop in the ocean to counteract our
selective breeding of germicide-resistant organisms.

/rant



Rant On! Rant On!!!

My husband, who was practically raised in a barn (they were poor, raised
what they ate - if they raised too many critters, they sold it and bought
clothes, etc.), is paranoid about eating undercooked food. These days, I
can understand it, what with salmonellae, e. coli, etc.

But he cannot eat anything that is "undercooked" without his digestive
system going into turmoil.

Me? I grew up eating raw cookie, cake and other dough. They contain raw
eggs. I can eat just about ANYTHING I want without getting sick, including
raw cookie dough (now I gone and made myself hungry)... cake batter....
semi-reheated leftovers (DH will microwave them until they're too hot take
out of the microwave, and then "let them cool") and recently even ate a
brand of frozen pizza that had been recalled because of "undercooked"
pepperoni on it.....

And here I be, typing this message...

--
--
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde
in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep

"Magic Mood Jeep" wrote in message
m...
"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Maybe it's just because I'm fighting off this grunge that has taken
possession of my lungs, sinuses and ears and won't vacate the premises no
matter what I've done, but I've become very attuned to TV commercials
advertising germ killing products (Lysol, Purell, etc.). I just watched
three in a row.

First of all, germs evolve just like any other animal or organism, they
just
do so millions of times faster since their reproductive cycles are so
short.
Purell just announced that it kills 99.9% of germs on your hands. Think
about it, what happens to the other .1%? *THOSE* are the germs who have
survived in the fight for survival of the fittest. They are the ones who
have not only been allowed to live and breed but have been selected by
*US*
to pass their hardiness and ability to survive germ destroying substances
on
to the next "generation" of germs.

When we get so compulsive, here in the US, with everything being "clean
and
sanitized", what we're really doing is helping to breed the next
unstoppable
pandemic! Is the risk really worth it just to avoid a few days or weeks
of
illness?

I've always been of the philosophy that my children needed to eat a
little
dirt in order for their immune systems to learn how to handle the stress.
They were never kept from animals because of a few sneezes or sniffles,
their bottles were never sterilized, I never freaked out if they ate a
grasshopper or picked up and ate some dropped food off the floor. The
result is that they are the most remarkably healthy adults I have ever
known
in my lifetime. Neither have ever been hospitalized or even had an
illness
serious enough to send them to their beds for more than a day.

Thankfully, they've learned these lessons well and are treating their own
children the same way, but I'm afraid that in the face of the rest of our
nation's germ-a-phobia this is just a drop in the ocean to counteract our
selective breeding of germicide-resistant organisms.

/rant



Rant On! Rant On!!!

My husband, who was practically raised in a barn (they were poor, raised
what they ate - if they raised too many critters, they sold it and bought
clothes, etc.), is paranoid about eating undercooked food. These days, I
can understand it, what with salmonellae, e. coli, etc.

But he cannot eat anything that is "undercooked" without his digestive
system going into turmoil.

Me? I grew up eating raw cookie, cake and other dough. They contain raw
eggs. I can eat just about ANYTHING I want without getting sick,
including raw cookie dough (now I gone and made myself hungry)... cake
batter.... semi-reheated leftovers (DH will microwave them until they're
too hot take out of the microwave, and then "let them cool") and recently
even ate a brand of frozen pizza that had been recalled because of
"undercooked" pepperoni on it.....

And here I be, typing this message...

Me too. I know I'm whining horribly about this cold/flu - but it's only
because I am so seldom sick that when I do get a cold I'm a really big baby
about it (the last cold I had was three years ago - I get injured often, but
I'm hardly ever sick). I really think that if you coddle your immune system
by avoiding little challenges to it, it won't be able to handle the first
big challenge it's given.

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
--
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde
in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep

CatNipped wrote:
Maybe it's just because I'm fighting off this grunge that has taken
possession of my lungs, sinuses and ears and won't vacate the
premises no matter what I've done, but I've become very attuned to TV
commercials advertising germ killing products (Lysol, Purell, etc.).
I just watched three in a row.

I tend to agree. The news reports about this new staph virus (sorry, I
forget the acronym) hammered it home. Parents in schools (in particular)
where outbreaks were found demanded that schools disinfect everything from
classrooms to locker rooms. This staph infection is transmitted by personal
contact, not by contact with a chair or a locker or a toilet seat. Good
lord, it reminded me of when people thought you could catch a venereal
disease or AIDS from a toilet seat.

And some parents called for the administering of antibiotics to all
students. Hate to break this to everyone but viruses cannot be killed by
antibiotics. If they worked on viruses no one would get the common cold
anymore.

I think we are over-disinfecting our environments. Everyone is sooo
terrified of every little germ they have to sanitize their hands, carrying
Purell or whatever and sanitary hand towels in their purses. They have to
wipe down everything in their environment, from telephones to doorknobs. I
know some people who won't flush a toilet in a restaurant or hotel room
unless they use their shoe. Frankly, I don't want to think about what may
be on their shoe. Chances are it's got more germy crap on it than their
hands. Next thing you know we'll all be walking around wearing rubber
gloves and steam-cleaning our pets.

Remember when we rode our bicycles (I'm not talking competitive cycling,
just as kids for fun) without a helmet? Went skating without helmets and
knee-pads? Remember when climbing a tree might have gotten you scraped
knees or hands but no one cared? Oh sure, Mom might wash it off, put a
little mecuricrome and adhesive tape on a scrape but we were right back
outside playing again. No one thought anything of it. Now, it's like we
have to pad, protect and disinfect every little thing. I ate my share of
dirt when I was a kid. I also ate snow (we knew enough to avoid "yellow
snow" LOL) and how sanitary could that have been? I'm still here. I wonder
about the next generation of Howard Hughes-like germophobes we may be
creating with all this emphasis on disinfecting our daily lives.

It's the work of advertisers touting products created by companies who have
run out of new ideas. They're selling us things we've never needed before
and don't need now, IMHO.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:
Maybe it's just because I'm fighting off this grunge that has taken
possession of my lungs, sinuses and ears and won't vacate the
premises no matter what I've done, but I've become very attuned to TV
commercials advertising germ killing products (Lysol, Purell, etc.).
I just watched three in a row.

I tend to agree. The news reports about this new staph virus (sorry, I
forget the acronym) hammered it home. Parents in schools (in particular)
where outbreaks were found demanded that schools disinfect everything from
classrooms to locker rooms. This staph infection is transmitted by
personal
contact, not by contact with a chair or a locker or a toilet seat. Good
lord, it reminded me of when people thought you could catch a venereal
disease or AIDS from a toilet seat.

And some parents called for the administering of antibiotics to all
students. Hate to break this to everyone but viruses cannot be killed by
antibiotics. If they worked on viruses no one would get the common cold
anymore.

I think we are over-disinfecting our environments. Everyone is sooo
terrified of every little germ they have to sanitize their hands, carrying
Purell or whatever and sanitary hand towels in their purses. They have to
wipe down everything in their environment, from telephones to doorknobs.
I
know some people who won't flush a toilet in a restaurant or hotel room
unless they use their shoe. Frankly, I don't want to think about what may
be on their shoe. Chances are it's got more germy crap on it than their
hands. Next thing you know we'll all be walking around wearing rubber
gloves and steam-cleaning our pets.

Remember when we rode our bicycles (I'm not talking competitive cycling,
just as kids for fun) without a helmet? Went skating without helmets and
knee-pads? Remember when climbing a tree might have gotten you scraped
knees or hands but no one cared? Oh sure, Mom might wash it off, put a
little mecuricrome and adhesive tape on a scrape but we were right back
outside playing again. No one thought anything of it. Now, it's like we
have to pad, protect and disinfect every little thing. I ate my share of
dirt when I was a kid. I also ate snow (we knew enough to avoid "yellow
snow" LOL) and how sanitary could that have been? I'm still here. I
wonder
about the next generation of Howard Hughes-like germophobes we may be
creating with all this emphasis on disinfecting our daily lives.

It's the work of advertisers touting products created by companies who
have
run out of new ideas. They're selling us things we've never needed before
and don't need now, IMHO.

Yep, but what a terrible price we will pay if we suffer a pandemic just so
Proctor and Gamble can make a few bucks!

Hugs,

CatNipped


Jill

[snips]

No cluons were harmed when CatNipped wrote:

First of all, germs evolve just like any other animal or organism

Purell just announced that it kills 99.9% of germs on your hands. Think
about it, what happens to the other .1%? *THOSE* are the germs who
have survived in the fight for survival of the fittest.

I've always been of the philosophy that my children needed to eat a
little dirt in order for their immune systems to learn how to handle the
stress.

So what you're saying is that when the next superbug hits, only you and
your family of überhoomins will survive (evil grin). This means that y'all
will be stuck feeding all the cats...


Hugs and Purrs,
Mark
--
Proof of Sanity Forged Upon Request

"Mark Edwards" wrote in message
...

[snips]

No cluons were harmed when CatNipped wrote:

First of all, germs evolve just like any other animal or organism

Purell just announced that it kills 99.9% of germs on your hands. Think
about it, what happens to the other .1%? *THOSE* are the germs who
have survived in the fight for survival of the fittest.

I've always been of the philosophy that my children needed to eat a
little dirt in order for their immune systems to learn how to handle the
stress.

So what you're saying is that when the next superbug hits, only you and
your family of überhoomins will survive (evil grin). This means that y'all
will be stuck feeding all the cats...

Ohmygawd! I spend huge chunks of my days just feeding my five-member
clowder - I'd physically collapse trying to tempt the taste buds of any
more! ;

On a serious note, what I'm afraid of is that even excellent germ resistance
will be overcome by the übergerms we're breeding in our quest for a germ
free existance.

You need to start eating a little dirt people, not just dishing it! ;

Hugs,

CatNipped



Hugs and Purrs,
Mark
--
Proof of Sanity Forged Upon Request

On a serious note, what I'm afraid of is that even excellent germ resistance
will be overcome by the übergerms we're breeding in our quest for a germ
free existance.

You need to start eating a little dirt people, not just dishing it! ;

That's a valid concern.

We're doing two bad things: by overusing antibacterials we're encouraging
bacteria to evolve into resistant forms faster, and by greatly reducing
the number of germs we're exposed to we're reducing the immunity we
naturally acquire through exposure.

Now when one of the bugs we've made resistant gets REALLY nasty, or
when H5N1 becomes easily transmitted human-to-human, or some other nasty
bug emerges from the wild, we're all going to be in deep yogurt.

Largely thanks to the ubiquity of antibacterial preparations.

I have had success for many years by refusing to shake hands with anyone
during the cold and flu seasons. The less contact with other people the
better.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Maybe it's just because I'm fighting off this grunge that has taken
possession of my lungs, sinuses and ears and won't vacate the premises no
matter what I've done, but I've become very attuned to TV commercials
advertising germ killing products (Lysol, Purell, etc.). I just watched
three in a row.

First of all, germs evolve just like any other animal or organism, they
just
do so millions of times faster since their reproductive cycles are so
short.
Purell just announced that it kills 99.9% of germs on your hands. Think
about it, what happens to the other .1%? *THOSE* are the germs who have
survived in the fight for survival of the fittest. They are the ones who
have not only been allowed to live and breed but have been selected by
*US*
to pass their hardiness and ability to survive germ destroying substances
on
to the next "generation" of germs.

When we get so compulsive, here in the US, with everything being "clean
and
sanitized", what we're really doing is helping to breed the next
unstoppable
pandemic! Is the risk really worth it just to avoid a few days or weeks
of
illness?

I've always been of the philosophy that my children needed to eat a little
dirt in order for their immune systems to learn how to handle the stress.
They were never kept from animals because of a few sneezes or sniffles,
their bottles were never sterilized, I never freaked out if they ate a
grasshopper or picked up and ate some dropped food off the floor. The
result is that they are the most remarkably healthy adults I have ever
known
in my lifetime. Neither have ever been hospitalized or even had an
illness
serious enough to send them to their beds for more than a day.

Thankfully, they've learned these lessons well and are treating their own
children the same way, but I'm afraid that in the face of the rest of our
nation's germ-a-phobia this is just a drop in the ocean to counteract our
selective breeding of germicide-resistant organisms.

/rant

I totally agree with you. Our immune systems cannot develop unless they are
challenged. There were never all these children with asthma here before we
were told to clean our houses so much with anti-bac stuff and make them
pristine.
All my life I have been confronted with "germs" from chicken poo, horse poo,
dog poo, you name it. I ate earth and worms as a small child and my immune
system is fine. The only allergy I still have is to crab - although I am
going to try it soon and see what happens. I outgrew the strawberry allergy
and the other shellfish too. I tried scallops for the first time a while
back. They were yuummmy but the next day I was swollen up with hives.

Tweed




Tweed