« October 2006 | Main | December 2006 »
November 21, 2006
Getting Down and Dirty About Washing Hands
With all the U.S. news recently focusing on the e-coli outbreak in prepared salads, one would think that this was a subject of great concern to many people. However, I beg to differ as I have witnessed evidence to the contrary.
The federal government determined that people died in this most recent national outbreak of disease because publicly purchased and consumed food had become tainted via water, or direct contact, with animal feces.
Apparently, the animal waste/wastewater had somehow gotten in contact with the live produce and then the produce made it into supermarkets and other food stores and, voila!, the outbreak time bomb started ticking.
Unfortunately, several people paid for this carelessness with their lives.
But I think that the appropriate federal agencies investigating this latest outbreak of e-coli tainted food, which resulted in several deaths and a couple of hundred sickenings, should not only be requiring that supermarket staff are not restocking the store shelves with suspect brands of lettuce. No.
Rather, I propose that the government should also visit many places of work and other public places containing restrooms and washroom facilities. I would go so far as to say that investigations should encompass even private homes, for that matter.
Why would I suggest this?
Well, over the last several years I've witnessed a disturbing trend that seems to be becoming more publicly acceptable and mainstream.
Specifically, I'm talking about every person, or in my gender's case at least men in particular, that I witness walking out of the restroom (or 'washroom' as I used to say when I lived in Canada) without washing their hands after, er, satisfying their 'call of nature'.
Remember the childhood rule most of us learned from our caregivers?
...It's not good to eat poop.
However, from the soapbox that I'm now standing on, I'm questioning how many more hapless souls who don't even eat salad are going to pay with their own life as a result of completely preventable human careless with regards to their very own poop on their very own hands.
Yes, I know...this is not a pretty subject; however, it is one that people, mainly adults, need a refresher course on.
And just what do people, both grown-ups and older children need to be reminded of?
Wash your hands after you use the bathroom.
Everytime.
All the time.
No exceptions.
Now, by 'washing hands' I'm not talking about a quick 1/2 second swinging of hands through running water and calling that washing hands. Oh no.
And I'm not talking about rubbing your hands together without soap under running water after you do your 'back-end' business either. Uh-uh.
What I'm talking about is everyone reading this article understanding that what comes out of the human body as solid waste can be deadly when (accidentally) consumed. Period.
So, what should be done when a person's hands, and other body parts used for cleaning, come into contact with that potentially deadly solid waste? Easy answer...
After finishing your business, for at least 15 seconds wash your hands vigorously and completely with water AND soap. Lots of both preferably.
People need to understand that the stuff coming out of the backend of the body, hopefully on a daily basis, is the same stuff that killed those few unfortunate souls who ate that animal poop tainted produce.
And since I want to have as many readers reading my articles for years to come, I would like you to heed my suggestion above so you stay healthy and don't suffer from this most unfortunate demise.
I know it's hard to remember with the busy lives we all live, to wash one's hands. After all, one can say to themself when they don't do so, "what's the harm?"
Well, even though there may not be apparent visible evidence at the moment on one's hands to support washing one's hands, please don't forget to do so. Every time you have a bowel movement. And at the very least, after doing your 'front-end' business, rinse your hands off.
One of my young boys is still struggling with remembering to wash his hands every time he goes to the bathroom. But I compensated for this by creating a simple statement so that he remembers to do so every time he needs to.
I tell him to 'wipe, flush, wash'. Simple.
Does it work every time? No, sometimes he still forgets. But it is something that I can fall back on and very easily and simply help him go over in his young mind where he fell off the action path.
"Did you wipe?"
"Yes."
"Did you flush?"
"Yes."
"Did you wash?"
"Oops."
As simple as it sounds, this is something I think would behoove grown-ups to run through their minds each and every time they run through their 'business' in the washroom.
Nuf said on this 'taboo' topic? Good.
But before I completely step off my soapbox...
Now, if only we can get bathroom designers to design public restrooms such that the restroom exit door pushes open outward thereby allowing one to exit without having to use their cleaned hands to grab onto that highly, HIGHLY contaminated door handle from all those hand washers who still have to put this lesson into use.
If you know any of these people, especially the males, do us both a favor and have them read this article.
The world, both inside and outside public restrooms/washrooms, will be cleaner and healthier for your efforts. And I, and my well trained sons, thank you for that.
But, hey, this is fodder for another article. So stay tuned.
Okay, now I'm stepping down...
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:31 AM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2006
From Writhing To Writing
Writing can be such an immense pleasure. Or a terrible pain. Why? Because it forces the writer to confront the words and thoughts that are in the mind. And sometimes, even though the mind is perpetually spinning, the words just don't seem to want to come out.
Even though I like to write, I find at times that the ability to write can seem especially difficult to undertake.
I know this is all a false illusion that I'm creating on my own part. But, nonetheless, it's still there. And I'm finding my self suffering from mental paralysis even at the best of times.
Writing something, say webpages for an Internet site, is something that one has to truly enjoy doing. This is not something to undertake on a whim. Especially writing ongoing pieces and articles for a blog.
If you're going to do writing on the Internet then you had better be darn sure from the get-go that you're ready to follow through with whatever you are writing about. And you had better be able to write for perhaps years to come.
It takes a special person to write. Why? Because writing is not something that many people enjoy because they struggle with it.
Writing causes one to have to coagulate their thoughts into sentences and then combine those sentences into coherent paragraphs. And then those paragraphs have to be sewn together into a unified written piece of verbal art. Not easy at times.
But there is one bit of sage advice that has worked wonders for me at times that still works true now. Even as I write this article.
Begin.
That's it.
Just begin.
Or as Nike put it so eloquently and succinctly those many years ago... Just Do It.
The mind is such a pleasurable tool when put to proper use. And our minds are such immense hindrances when allowed to run rampant out of habit.
This mind wants all of us to believe that we aren't good writers. The mind wants one to stay stuck in the belief that 'I have nothing to say'.
The mind wants one to believe that 'I don't know where to start'.
Well, to heck with all that.
Begin.
Just begin.
Sit down, and start writing.
Don't worry about the mistakes. Don't worry about getting it 'perfect'.
Don't worry about having to know exactly what you're going to write about from the very start. None of that is necessary.
That's the trick that the mind is playing on you. And you're buying into it when you believe all those words to be true.
Stop all that.
And just begin writing.
It really isn't all that hard to write, even if you don't know how to spell. Computers correct words for you as you type.
And if you write like I do, literally with my eyes closed, then you don't have to worry about mistakes. Just write and go back and correct what you wrote. That way you can get into the flow more easily and smoothly.
Begin.
Write.
Get those wondrous words out of your head and onto paper. We all have something to share. I know you do too. Just write.
Don't keep those wonderful words floating around in your head only for your edification. You will benefit from releasing them out of your brain. And anyone who reads your words just might benefit from your insights and life experiences shared through your writing.
And, hey...
Maybe you'll realize that you truly can write after all.
Sweet.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:55 AM | Comments (0)