Out of touch with the zeitgeist once again...

[vulgarweed]

This came up in a conversation with co-workers, and again in a post tonight, and I just want to get some opinions on this.

Hand sanitizer.

I used it once in my life, out of curiosity in a shop that had it by the cash register. I couldn't stand the rubbing alcohol stench, and it dried out my skin so badly I caught myself licking my hands until I could get to a Walgreen's and buy a little tube of hand lotion. (I have dry skin, and I HATE the sensation of tight skin on my hands.)

Do people really use this stuff voluntarily? And if so, do they find it makes any difference at all in how often they get sick (or don't)?

Aside from my one experiment, I have to admit I associate it mostly with this Etiquette-Hell-worthy anecdote from Barack Obama's second book:

"[Obama] recalls a meet-and-greet encounter at the White House with George W. Bush, who warmly shook his hand, then “turned to an aide nearby, who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president’s hand.” (“Good stuff,” he quotes the president as saying, as he offered his guest some. “Keeps you from getting colds.”)" To paraphrase Kanye West, George Bush doesn't like shaking hands with black people.

It's not a very interesting subject, except that something's at work to make me think of it twice in the last week, so I'm just curious. Is this one of those cultural sweeps that bypassed me entirely?

Comments

Going against the grain...as usual

[lacewood-lune.livejournal.com]

I gotta say - I wish *more* people used the stuff. Actually, I wish more people just washed their hands. But, for example, just the other day the librarian blew her nose, told me she was just getting over a really nasty cold, then handed my my library reserves. Personally, I thought that was unbelievably rude. Maybe this is just because I'm self-employed and don't get paid sick days, and I also catch every last little bug that comes along, but -- yuck! Obviously she couldn't excuse herself to go wash her hands while we all waited in line with our books. But some hand sanitizer would have been nice. Compulsive use of hand sanitizer is a little silly -- but it'd be nice if people did *something* routinely after blowing their noses.

I wash my hands with soap and water at the appropriate times, but sometimes I use the Bath & Body Works hand lotion with hand sanitizer in it instead, because my skin gets dry to the crack-and-bleed point very easily. And that's really uncomfortable. And some people tend to be (reasonably, I think) squicked by whatever you've touched when they see traces of blood on your hands from this. The Bath & Body Works stuff is great -- you've got a wide choice of scents, so you can pick whatever you like best -- flowery, musky, fruity -- some of them smell so good you'll want to eat your hands! And none of them smell like alcohol. So some of that stuff some of the time, and some regular old-fashioned hand-washing followed by some Eucerin works best for me.

Re: Going against the grain...as usual

[tears-of-nienna.livejournal.com]

On behalf of non-asshole library workers everywhere, I apologize for your asshole librarian. ;D At our library, we actually have wall-pumps for hand sanitizer. Normally I just go in the back and wash my hands, but if there's a rush and a patron decides to hold their library card in their mouth before handing it to me...one quick unobtrusive pump and the heebie-jeebies lessen somewhat. ;)

Also, Bath and Body Works moisturizing hand sanitizer is wonderful stuff. It smells good, and if you pick it up at the right time it's absurdly cheap.

...Yeah, possibly I worked at B&BW one Christmas season. It was a bad idea. XD

Re: Going against the grain...as usual

[lacewood-lune.livejournal.com]

Oh, no need to apologize! I actually love my librarians -- most of them are extremely cool folks that I end up spending waaay too much time hanging out with when I should be hurrying out the door with my stack of audio books and rushing off to the next thing. Hell, you know how sometimes motorcycle veterans will have drill teams that do highly-coordinated figure-eights and other cool patterns, weaving in and out of each other, in parades? Well, my librarians (yes, I'm even possessive of them, they're so cool!) gently taped lots of books into their book carts and put together a library cart drill team to do the same thing in the 4th of July parade in our town. I swear, they out-hipstered the bikers! It was awesome. So no need. The one woman is a little clueless at times, but *aside* from that one appalling incident she's a sweetie. Just -- it's kinda like if someone's fly is open, and you have to decide whether it's more rude to point this out, or more rude to let them walk around with their fly open all day. Do you find a way to delicately *tell* someone that you see casually on a regular basis that they did something really disgusting that they might want to avoid doing in the future? Errghhh -- ? That's pretty obnoxious, too, isn't it? Maybe not as obnoxious as being out a weeks' pay 'cause I'm home sick though... Oh well. I'm sure I've done my fair share of idiot things too. I just wish people would quit with the cavalier nose-blowing but no hand washing bit. But I'm rambling -- sorry 'bout that (smile). Gack, do people actually hold their cards in their mouths while juggling their stuff a lot, before handing it to you? Isn't that what the countertop is for? Wow!

Re: Going against the grain...as usual

[tears-of-nienna.livejournal.com]

Book-cart drill teams!! I have heard of such wondrous things, but unfortunately our county doesn't have one. :( There ought to be a course in library school for that...I'd probably audit it, though, because coordination is not my strong suit.

It really is an awkward thing to decide whether to say something about things like that...the fly I will mention, because that's embarrassing, but I just don't know how to say "Uh, that's kinda gross. Want to go wash your hands?" without...actually saying those exact words. ;)