Gone to the Dogs

Our neighbors’ granddaughter is coming home tonight from the Children’s Hospital in Dallas.  The young aunt and uncle are responsible for doing a ‘thorough’ cleaning of the house in preparation for her arrival.  “No pets” was apparently one of the major rules sent home by the doctors.  That means the dogs have to go; the birds have to go; and the snake…well, the uncle thinks that he may get to keep his snake if the child doesn’t handle it.  I never would have thought of a snake as being a relatively clean creature.  Go figure.

It is so easy to think that we are all relatively safe from viruses or their bad effects until something slaps us in the face.  This child came home from daycare with a virus that shut down her kidneys.  Now she will be on dialysis.  Her mother and grandmother have trained to do the procedure at home, but this is a very active little girl—or at least she was active.

However wonderful new procedures may be that allow us to live more freely, we seem just as susceptible to sicknesses as did any of our forefathers.  In fact, we may be exposed to a multitude of viruses simply because of technology.  While I would never suggest that we all take up pen and paper rather than a keyboard, I do believe that sharing a keyboard, a telephone receiver, or any office machine can easily put us in contact with tough little germs.  And think of the surfaces that come in contact with our children!

No one wants to be obsessive about cleanliness, but it may be time for us to rethink germ control whether it is at home, in the office, in a hospital, or in a daycare center.  Some of the vegetables that are not easily cleaned with water are now irradiated to kill germs before they are even shipped to stores.  Where is the entrepreneur who will give us a simple device to use to kill viruses?  Our moms used hot soapy water, sunshine, bleach, and scrubbed us until we yelled calf rope.  But we can’t do that to a keyboard.  Here is a need.  Are any inventors available?