Does anyone miss the good old days of dropping something on the floor or ground and eating it as long as you stayed within the five-second rule, or washing your hands on occasion as long as there wasn’t some obvious filth on them?
As something of a germophobe, I’m being facetious. Washing after doing some chore, wiping off the handles of a shopping cart with a sanitary wipe or disinfecting my hands after pumping gas has always come naturally to me. This likely came from watching my late father, who contracted hepatitis during his service in World War II, wash his hands frequently and without apology, often while ignoring the snickers of others.
But the new rules on avoiding coronavirus have changed all this, resulting in new-found respect for the mysophobic. But even for the most fastidious of us, the constant messages of how and when to clean, what to disinfect and how far to stand back from others are enough to drive the most paranoid of us weary of this unseen, potentially deadly intruder in our lives.
While this is all for good reason and necessary to stem the spread of this horrible, horrible virus during this national crisis, one has to wonder the long-term effects it will have on our society.
Until now we encouraged hugging and shaking hands as a show of kindness and goodwill. Will this pandemic give us more reason to distance ourselves, retreating to our homes to visit with others through text messages and social media?
The toughest thing to deal with for some of us during this crisis is the distancing we now must practice to protect elderly parents in nursing homes. The more fortunate of us can call a parent on a cell phone while visiting through a nursing home window.
Tech-able nursing facilities have also set up systems that allow families to talk via Facetime or Skype, which is a huge help with keeping in touch with parents who don’t have a ground-level window. The restrictions are likely more difficult for families who have an incapicated loved one in a nursing home who is unable to hold conversations with relatives, but respond to the touch of a hand, kind words or a kiss during visits.
This past week, I joined the ranks of many baby boomers who have been seen walking around the outsides of nursing facilities across the nation to see their parents through windows. I’m not sure who needs these window visits more, the child or elderly parent, but it’s definitely beneficial to both.
Accompanying me during a recent outside-looking-in visit with Mom was my young grandson, Leo, who also wanted to see Great-Grandma Day, even if for a few minutes.
After climbing up on a footstool to look through the window, Leo waved and smiled, bringing huge grins from my mother, her roommate and staff.
I’m sure we’ll make more window visits with Mom until the crisis passes. I also believe our society will come out stronger, and perhaps even a bit wiser from all of this.
For one, I’d have to guess the five-second rule will go by the wayside for most, and washing hands frequently won’t be snickered at by others.
But let’s hope that keeping up much-needed human contact with our loved ones, friends, neighbors and workmates won’t be diminished because of this pandemic — or others that may strike in the future.
(Email Kate Day Sager at kates_th@yahoo.com.)
