Among my great fears. Really.
I imitate Joan Rivers's anti-germ behavior often: I wipe down the arms, tabletray, seatbelt, etc., on my airline seat. To defuse criticism, I offer my seatmates some wipes, and they take me up on the deal. Listen, I've seen people sleeping and slobbering on those trays. No way my hands are going to touch them after the initial drop-down.
When I enter my hotel room, I take out my Lysol or Clorox wipes (whichever I bought for the trip) and wipe off not only the remote but all surface areas, the phone, light switches, door knobs and so forth. Without a doubt, a maid or two has taken the rag used to wipe off the toilet seat to clean off the bathroom surface where I place my washcloth, towel, toothbrush (which I always place in a disposable cup) and cosmetics.
Why so cautious? Because at one point when my sons were growing up and I wanted a job that did not take me away from them during non-school hours, I became an aide in the afternoon kindergarten class of a local elementary school.
The morning aide was quite likable and was highly regarded. I knew her as part of the staff before hiring on. Well, when time came for a shift change, I often saw her wipe off the floor and use the same UNCLEAN rag on the tabletops. The tabletops where the children would later eat their afternoon snack. (Adding this important fact: The cloth was used and reused, day after day. Perhaps it was washed once every three weeks or so. The thought of this still upsets me.)
Before my children in my kindergarten class ate, I wiped off everything with the paper towels that we provided in the room for them to wash their hands before snack. Of course I put several dollops of hand soap on the wet paper towels. The teacher complained about the high consumption of paper towels and wondered why, but I kept my secret in order to protect the children. This was the same aide who would wait in the rain with the kids for the bus to pick them up at the end of the day, holding an umbrella over her head while the children got wet. My kids were always kept in a sheltered area until the bus came to fetch them. I always treated the children the way I would want mine to be treated.
