A Post In Which........

This is a post in which I describe how I single-handedly took on public health at a small high school. I've been sick most of this week with a pretty ripping cold. It is the same disease, doubtless, that flies through the air at some 300 mph every time one of my students coughs and doesn't cover his or her mouth. It is the same one that exists in the tissues they do not throw away, and the same one that they share with each other via that communal bag of potato chips. Although I have only missed one day at school I have missed enough to my other job as Acupuncturist to total over $300. (I should say that the three days I taught I had my symptoms quite controlled with herbs and supplements, so I didn't feel like I was putting anyone more at risk than they already were.) But worse than loss of income I can't pet the rabbits, or do their training because rabbits can catch colds from humans, I read this in the House Rabbit book. And BF is quite unhappy that he may be the next victim. Today I presented my 11th grade Drawing class with the following:

I should say that students are encouraged to come to school sick for the morning classes, lest they miss an important experience. This certainly doesn't help keep the healthy population unexposed. It would seem, too, that although they have had some sort of health education in terms of sex and drugs and such like, the handling of contagious diseases of the respiratory sort has been overlooked. Once they voiced their opinion that I was just mad because I got sick, they did have to concede that pretty much the whole school was sick because during morning exercise (a whole school activity) once one person coughed the whole school was coughing. A poll revealed that everyone except one girl had been sick in the 11th grade. I suspect her extended vacation in Mexico may have cooked the virus out.  I bought some very nice essential oil hand sanitizer and soap too, and some bleach wipes. Though I don't use bleach for cleaning myself I do have a certain respect for it in terms of germ extermination. Several years ago one of my brothers had a bone marrow transplant for a tricky cancer. I took care of him, post procedure, at "The Transplant House" where all the patients are walking around with someone else's parts. Caregivers had to keep the communal kitchen very, very clean and the rule was you had to wipe down all surfaces with bleach wipes. It is imprinted in my mind as something you do in an extreme circumstance; like epidemics. Although these purchased substances and my presentation brought a certain amount of mirth quite a few students used the hand sanitizer and everyone covered their cough (approximately one third of the class was coughing). I found out that another teacher was telling them to cover their mouths with their hands for coughing, this was not followed by the order to wash hands, resulting in a mass of germs on the hands that go all over desks, door knobs, etc.......(sigh......)  I put a flyer with a short explanatory note in every teacher's mail tray and invited them to follow suit. At the very least my classes will have a higher level of hygiene.......

Sydney says "Rabbits are self cleaning mammals, why can't humans follow our lead?"