With winter in full blast mode, people are sniffling, sneezing and coughing all around me, I work in the public, not necessarily with the public, but I’m still exposed to all sorts of nasties during the week. I haven’t been really sick in quite some time, I have those down bla days from time to time, but haven’t had a full blown case of anything since last year, and I intend to keep it that way.
Last week, I thought I might be coming down with something, I had a sore spot in my throat, it lasted a full day but fortunately never turned into anything worse. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help keep me in tip top shape, it’s not 100%, but I believe it helps. When I very first noticed the sore spot in my throat, I immediately grabbed an Emergen c fizzy packet, it’s packed full of nutrients, specifically the vitamin C and zinc were what I was wanting.
A few weeks ago, in one of the stores that I service (as a merchandiser), I saw an employee that I hadn’t seen in a while, I went over and shook his hand in greeting, it was after that handshake that he informed me that he was at the tail end of a cold… oh great I thought, I stayed out of his air stream and air bubble, that area in which viri accumulate en masse. I noticed him coughing a lot.
After washing my hands, I decided to purchase a hand sanitizer, now this is something I don’t typically use, but thought it prudent for now. Another thing I do is I try my utmost to not touch my face, especially my nose or eyes with my hands, especially if I have been handling the shopping cart handles, those have got to be the germiest place to touch.
If I hear someone cough or sneeze, I will stay away from their air space, if I am already walking past them, I’ll hold my breath until I am well beyond them. I know that might sound silly, but I’m not interested in breathing in whatever made them cough or sneeze, you should see the videos created that show sneezes and coughs in slo-mo, here is one
Now do you still think I’m being overcautious? I didn’t think so :)
If I have to cough or sneeze, I will often pull my shirt up as I duck my mouth down and sneeze or cough into my shirt, I don’t want to use my hands to cover my mouth, especially when I’m working because I’m handling items that the public will be buying, I’m also shaking hands with people. I don’t typically wear long sleeve shirts so I’m not going to cough or sneeze into my inner elbow. So into my shirt it goes, it might not catch 100% of it, but it’s going to prevent a major spray of potentially virus infected droplets from spewing into the air.
Of course, washing hands, even if you just rinse them well with water it’s better than nothing, keeping my hands away from my face, getting plenty of sleep, eating well and taking vitamins all work together to keep me from getting sick.
What do you do to keep from getting sick?