The Germ Experiment

Breaking the Hand Sanitizer Myth For Good

Being around germs in a metropolitan environment is a particular nuisance in the winter. I consider myself healthy and healthy thinking. I don’t worry about virus and bacterial germs in the summer when people aren’t hacking and sneezing around the city. I assume those are allergies (another interesting topic).

But I do think about staying away from germs. Some people don’t. You could be that person (like some of my friends). People I know think hand sanitizer machines you see in malls, buildings, and airports are to give the impression (to the public) that the government is doing something to reduce germs. Like propaganda.

So I wanted to reveal the hand sanitizer truth, and dispel the myth for my own sanity (and maybe yours). I wanted to put to rest what doesn’t work and what works as we enter prime cold season.

I could only do this with a real experiment, and not what I read (or Googled).

Habits for the semi-germophobe modernist

First of all, I’m not a germophobe (like celebrity Howie Mandel professes he is and is known for). A germophobe is obsessive about being free of germs. I imagine those thoughts take up a lot of space in a germophobe’s mind. It only occupies a smart space in mine. Being conscious of germs, I consider myself a…