Be Clean
Everywhere we look we hear people talking about it, we read how it effects the economy, and we live in fear of it. It has a major impact on all aspects of our lives and most of us will never be affected by it. The Coronavirus is scary to think about, it is a new disease that we do not have a cure for and can be deadly. Most of us will never come close to anyone who is contagious but we really have no real way of knowing. So how do we deal with this threat to our health without disturbing our day to day activities? That is an important question with many answers.
Be Clean
Cleanliness is our first defense against sickness. Diseases run rampant in dirty areas where nothing exists to combat its growth. In fact, most bacteria and viruses can be killed with soap and water. This information only came to be common knowledge a few centuries ago. As a result, life expectancy has increased and our overall health as a civilization has improved. That being said, our number one defense to new potential plagues like the Coronavirus is to clean up after ourselves and wash our hands often.
Our hands come in contact with countless disgusting items every day. Cash currency is a great example of this. Do we really know where a dollar bill has been? We do not expect our local banks to wash the money every time someone conducts a cash transaction. So we know the bills are dirty and we know our hands will come in contact with it, our hands will become dirty. It is unenviable. Money is just one example of items that we touch daily. We push and pull door handles, we use other people’s pens, and we use phones. Just ask yourself when was the last time you cleaned your desk phone or your cell phone? How about your computer keyboard? These are simple items that we use every day and odds are they are disgusting. They may look clean but microscopic particles transfer from your hands to them and who knows where else they end up.
That being said, there is no need to panic. We cannot live our lives and not touch these important items. Having opposable thumbs is one of the major advantages that we have, we must use them and these is a simple way of ensuring cleanliness. First, and most importantly, wash our hands often. Even when we think they are clean it is never a bad idea to be safe. Additionally, make sure there is hand sanitizer around. We never know when we might touch something by mistake and need to clean ourselves when there is no sink or water. Finally, clean our stuff from time to time. Anti-bacterial items are readily available so spend a few minutes every day using them. We will feel cleaner and be cleaner as a result.
Be Respectful of Others
We all value our jobs and should feel some pride in the work we do. We do not sign up to be the worst and we all want to win. We also want to help our co-workers be better, their good work will only make our jobs easier. That being said the worst thing to do to our offices is come to work sick. Yes, taking a sick day will likely cause delays and put future pressure on ourselves but it is also the right thing to do. If you are sick and coughing often you risk spreading this illness to others. It doesn’t matter how careful we are, it will happen. A stray particle goes unnoticed and spread like wildfire. That being said, do not take sick days when they are not needed. That is disrespectful to others and if you do it too much you will develop a poor reputation.
Being respectful of others also includes cleaning up after ourselves. We all use public restrooms. We do not want too but we cannot leave work and go home every time nature calls. Furthermore, we want these public restrooms to be clean. It is our responsibility to ensure they are. Next time you are at a shopping mall, go into the bathroom and see how many toilets are left unflushed. The results will be disgusting. It’s not the mall janitor’s job to flush the toilets after people use them. As a society we must respect the facilities around and not flushing a toilet I just one example of us failing to do so. We miss dropping a paper towel in the trash can and leave it on the floor. We get our shoes dirty and do not wipe them properly when entering a building. These little things add up quickly to cause a huge mess. So it is important to do the right thing and clean up after ourselves in any setting. A custodian’s job is to maintain an area and eliminate the mess that will occur over time, not to clean up after us because we get lazy.
Fight Panic with Common Sense
News stories and political action make events like the emergence the spread of the Coronavirus seem like a catastrophe. Its scares some people into wearing masks everywhere and others into never leaving the house. Living in fear of what could happen is no way to live. We must be aware of the dangerous of disease and we must respond to them without over reacting. Most experts will tell us to wash our hands often and stay in clean environments. If you we do not feel well stay away from others and do no expose ourselves to ill people without cause. We must fight potential new epidemics with common sense and logic and avoid fear and rash decisions. If we wash our hands often and do the small things properly, we have nothing to fear. We are only at risk if we put ourselves in a position to be. So live life and make quality decisions. If we do that the Coronavirus will become a distance memory of the past.