Wash Your Hands

Warning! This might be unpleasant to some people.

How often do you wash your hands? Think about it.

I love that hand shaking is a great way to greet someone, but when you are about to shake someone’s hand, have you ever wondered what that hand has just experienced?

Just the other day I accompanied a friend to the hospital to have some necessary tests done and while we were waiting for the doctor to see him, I witnessed a disgusting event.

A woman who seemed to be in her mid-fifties was picking her nostrils. She proceeded to conduct a thorough examination of all the crevices that her finger could access, not caring that I was staring at her with a disgusted expression on my face. Even when my eyes widened when our eyes met, she continued as if it is a normal and accepted thing for her to do. I eventually had to turn away.

How often do you see a man peeing by a light post, a wall, near bushes, anywhere along the roadside?

How about persons who believe that they are being very clean by carrying a small wash rag which they use to wipe their faces, into which they are always coughing, blowing their noses? It’s also the same rag they throw over one shoulder.

What about someone who sneezes into their hands. Or blows their nose, wipes it away with their hand, flash the mucus away and wipes the hand on their clothes?

At a fast food restaurant; ever seen the servers with or without gloves, handling the utensils, cashing, or wiping their faces then using their hands to nudge your food onto the plate?

Ever seen a chef turns his head to sneeze or cough? Or cough right over the food as he cooks?

At a restaurant, do you wash your hands in the restroom then turn off the tap and open the door with your clean hands?
Now you understand why we bless our food as well as the hands that prepared it.

This is just some of the disgusting things I’ve seen and why I believe we should all heed the phrase: “cleanliness is next to godliness” and ‘wash your hands’.

For God’s sake, wash your hands as often as you can with soap and water if you want to avoid getting sick and spreading illnesses. It’s probably impossible to keep your hands germs free but you can limit the accumulation of them on your hands throughout the day.

Using hand sanitizers is only an alternative to proper hand washing when you do not have access to soap and water.

Wash your hands:

*before, during and after you prepare food.
*before and after you eat.
*before and after you touch a sick person.
*before and after treating a cut.
*before you touch your face.
*before you handle your contact lenses.
*before holding your baby.

Wash your hands:

**after you handle raw meat.
**after blowing your nose or sneezing into your hands – then wash your nose.
**after using the toilet.
**after changing your baby.
**after handling anything dirty.
**after doing your chores.
**after playing with your pet.

Notice how many times I’ve said “wash your hands”? Prevention is my middle name....