Covid reflexes

[Liar]

I was never a germophobe before, but I seem to have developed some habits this summer. Like habitually taking a reasonably wide berth when passing people on the sidewalk and in corridors, nudging push doors open with a foot, leaving space and wait for my turn in doorways and stairwells, pressing my pin code with the corner of the credit card...

Little nonsens things like that. I don't even think about it, I just catch myself doing it.

Anyone else?

 

[jaF0]

I've always kept my distance from people in public, so no change there.

I've never really been a germophobe though. Never used anti-bacterial this or that, never taken shots for whatever. I don't do a handful of pills every day either. I believe the over use of those things has helped to weaken our immune systems.

I'm not particular about day old (or older) foods either. As long as it doesn't taste too 'off' I'm OK with it.

I rarely ever get sick- sick. I get head colds and hay fever, sinuses get nasty. I get headaches and body aches, but almost never feverish of chills. When I do, I hit them with orange juice or other Vitamin C and a small amount of OTC cold remedies, but I don't over medicate.

If the bug hits me, it may either do nothing or take me out. For all I know, I may have already had it since most people don't have much trouble.

 

[islandman]

Calling for the elevator or floor with a knuckle rather than a fingertip.

Having a travel-size bottle of hand sanitizer in every jacket or bag.

Screaming obscenities at anyone not wearing a mask while spray-painting them red to signify the death they're causing.

 

[stickygirl]

Yup - watching films and noticing no one is wearing masks or are hugging each other.

I still go through all my groceries and spray the wrapping with kitchen cleaner even though I know the virus is spread person to person. I shout at people to "Get Out" when they come through our office door with "CLOSED" written on it. I get irritated by people citing over the phone that some other office is open so why isn't yours?

However... I am hugely grateful to the staff of supermarkets and my local store and often tell them so. I thank people who step into the road as I shoulder brush a building to keep 2m distance. I suddenly cherish casual conversations with neighbours I haven't seen for weeks and get excited if one of my friends comes over and we stand shivering in the garden to talk. So I'd say we've come to value small human connections. We need to find some positives in a shitstorm.

 

[colddiesel]

I have developed a genius for being able to get in and out of public toilets without laying a hand on the door handle.

 

[rockcasbah]

People still use public toilets?

 

[Champakian]

I would never use a public toilet, ever.

I've changed nothing other than (sometimes) wearing a mask.
I don't do that for self-protection, but to protect the feelings of those who fear...



Then again, I live in sparsely populated rural America,
not the Petri dish of urban-suburban America.

No one is masked up in the feed and hardwire stores.

 

[stickygirl]

I have developed a genius for being able to get in and out of public toilets without laying a hand on the door handle.

That's why toilets for people with disabilities make so much sense - taps ( faucets? ) that you can turn on/off with your elbow and doors you can open with a forearm.

'Public toilets' can be ones in shared facilities such as I have at work. The site management installed hand sanitisers outside the entrance which are a great.

'Pubic toilets' are the ones at back of nightclubs

 

[HisArpy]

I wear a mask in public because I'm required to by law.

Other than that, nothing. No hand sanitizer, no special tips on how to open doors without touching them, no worries about the pin pad and my fingertip, nothing.


In 1918 we lost a couple of million people here in the US. They did everything then that we're doing now. Keeping distant, wearing masks, washing their hands, PSA campaigns about being safe, yada, yada, yada.

We've lost 460k this time around.


Stop trying to con us about how super dangerous and worse than the 1918 pandemic Covid is.

 

[lovetoread]

i stay away from people, there is no reason for anyone to be near me

i will wear a mask even if we got rid of this virus, there will be another one

 

[Saint Peter]

you can leave your mask on

 

[lovetoread]

that might be the only way i would have sex with another person again

and maybe gloves

 

[Sean]

I wear a mask in public because I'm required to by law.

Other than that, nothing. No hand sanitizer, no special tips on how to open doors without touching them, no worries about the pin pad and my fingertip, nothing.


In 1918 we lost a couple of million people here in the US. They did everything then that we're doing now. Keeping distant, wearing masks, washing their hands, PSA campaigns about being safe, yada, yada, yada.

We've lost 460k this time around.


Stop trying to con us about how super dangerous and worse than the 1918 pandemic Covid is.

You tell 'em, Tim! I mean, it's not like medical care has improved over the last century or anything.

 

[dolf]

I've found that the world has finally conformed to my desires. We don't see each others faces, we stand metres apart and avoid touching, nobody touches my things or wanders into my lab for a "chat", at work we're all communicating through text, there is nobody brushing against me in the supermarket queue, everyone has clean hands, doors/handles are regularly washed, and nobody comes to the house (except to clean).

It's Glorious!​

 

[InternationalFunboy]

Confessed doorknob licker here. My entire life I've plowed through the physical world with verve and confidence. Maybe it's the response, or thoughts of the lives that are never going to be the same, or maybe just finally an acknowledgement of my own simple and common vulnerabilities, but I now understand the plight of people who flush the toilet with their shoe or lament the existence of ketchup packets. I extend extra thoughtful manners these days like sticky describes in their post.

And I think from here on out I only lick rurally. Out on the land, back to nature and all that.

 

[juttjaw]

I've found that the world has finally conformed to my desires. We don't see each others faces, we stand metres apart and avoid touching, nobody touches my things or wanders into my lab for a "chat", at work we're all communicating through text, there is nobody brushing against me in the supermarket queue, everyone has clean hands, doors/handles are regularly washed, and nobody comes to the house (except to clean).

It's Glorious!​

Could not of said this better myself. I allow certain people into my circle, that has never changed. Other than being at work, we have to be in groups of 2 or more to do our job, no one gets within breathing distance. I've always slid around public bathrooms, avoided if at all possible, as to not touch a single thing. I'm certainly not a germ freak, I just don't like other peoples germs.

 

[Saint Peter]

i have not had a cold since the start of isolation.

yay.

 

[Philthy_Phil]

I sanitize hookers before I murder them with my bare hands.

 

[stickygirl]

I've found that the world has finally conformed to my desires. We don't see each others faces, we stand metres apart and avoid touching, nobody touches my things or wanders into my lab for a "chat", at work we're all communicating through text, there is nobody brushing against me in the supermarket queue, everyone has clean hands, doors/handles are regularly washed, and nobody comes to the house (except to clean).

It's Glorious!​

I think other people have suffered more than I have from isolation. My concern is that when it all finishes I'll be obliged to go back to being sociable. I'm nervous that I might not be able to or want to. I'm largely written off as a loner but I don't want to be thought of as a recluse.

You have a cleaner? I had the offer of one once, but I couldn't stand them being in my home.

 

[dolf]

I think other people have suffered more than I have from isolation. My concern is that when it all finishes I'll be obliged to go back to being sociable. I'm nervous that I might not be able to or want to. I'm largely written off as a loner but I don't want to be thought of as a recluse.

You have a cleaner? I had the offer of one once, but I couldn't stand them being in my home.

I'm fine with being labelled antisocial. Even people I like are convinced that I hate them.

I think I've adjusted to the cleaner because it started soon after we moved. It didn't feel 100% my nest yet.

 

[silver gurl]

I mask. I double mask because I work with the general public and I don’t necessarily trust their hygiene.
I use public bathrooms because I am on the road for work. There is little choice.
I sanitize. It is required before entering any business.
I use my sleeved arm to open doors.
I have a huge bottle of sanitizer that sits in my cup holder, which get constant use.
When people are close to me, I find myself holding my breath. Shrugs
I hate arrows on the floors, in stores. Annoying.

 

[Liar]

Stop trying to con us about how super dangerous and worse than the 1918 pandemic Covid is.

I don't think I've ever head anyone say that. Worst since. Not worse than.

 

[dolf]

I hate arrows on the floors, in stores. Annoying.

Oh, I'm so ignoring the one way systems. Most seem to have been designed by whoever on staff was too dim to be trusted on the tills. Most of the time it's like they could almost have been designed to create bottle necks and close contact. Especially at the tills.

I've left a few shitty reviews on the topic.

 

[hobbit.]

. habitually taking a reasonably wide berth when passing people on the sidewalk and in corridors.

Always leave a swords length between yourself and others

.

Screaming obscenities at anyone not wearing a mask while spray-painting them red to signify the death they're causing.

Why Red? do you have a problem with inuit americans?

I have developed a genius for being able to get in and out of public toilets without laying a hand on the door handle.

An excellent way to avoid criminal prosecution unless the police have video evidence of whatever it was you got upto in public toilets

People still use public toilets?

Not so much since advances in surveillance video, but seemingly some do.

. It didn't feel 100% my nest yet.

That just reads wrong.

 

[Fermina_Daza]

Confessed doorknob licker here. My entire life I've plowed through the physical world with verve and confidence. Maybe it's the response, or thoughts of the lives that are never going to be the same, or maybe just finally an acknowledgement of my own simple and common vulnerabilities, but I now understand the plight of people who flush the toilet with their shoe or lament the existence of ketchup packets. I extend extra thoughtful manners these days like sticky describes in their post.

And I think from here on out I only lick rurally. Out on the land, back to nature and all that.

I'd let you lick my doorknobs any time.

I mean, I figure you must have one hell of an immune system and easier and cheaper than Lysol.