Wash your damn hands
Today I was in the gym, changing room and I saw a guy washing his hands. He was taking a long time over it. In fact, he was there long enough to have sung God Save The Queen at least twice.
But the reason he was at the sink for so long is not because he was displaying exemplary hygiene, quite the opposite in fact. This charming chap was pausing regularly during his hand-washing to blow bubbles of snot out of his nose and into the sink. He was then rinsing his snot away before carrying on with his washing.
"That''s a good habit to be in during a Coronavirus pandemic," someone eventually commented to him.
During Coronavirus? Let's be clear anout one thing: Global pandemic or not, it is never acceptable to discharge your nasal gunk into a public sink in full view of everyone. Or out of full view of everyone for that matter. Get a tissue, for the love of God.
If reaction to the current Coronavirus situation has taught us anything, it is that our standards of basic hygiene are usually well below where they should be.
Blowing snot from your nose into any sink is disgusting and in a public place it is reprehensible, no matter what is currently going on in the world. If you need to blow your nose then get a tissue and dispose of it properly.
Good hygiene is good manners at the best of times and in uncharted times like this it is more vital than ever. Not only has plenty of research shown that good hygiene is a good first impression, it is also basic decency - and during a global pandemic it is a basic requirement.
For the foreseeable future, our personal cleanliness and good hygiene habits are going to be under the spotlight, but it is something which we should all be considering anyway and always.
As a general rule, consider:
> Wash your hands
> Trim your nails
> Pay attention to your scent - BO is not what people want to be smelling, keep yourself fresh.
> Clean your teeth - People make all sort of judgements based on your apparent dental hygiene, from cleanliess to status and intelligence. Go to a dentist and hygienist and on a daily basis: Brush, floss, don't rinse.
> Wash your hair - Have you every heard anyone positively described as having greasy hair? I didn't think so.
If you are not sure about how to wash your hands then there is plenty of Government advice out there and this video from the excellent I Am Alpha M blog and vlog gives you a little walkthrough.