Are we all living this way or have I gone mad?!

[stardrops007]

Okay, so I'm not sure if I've just lost touch with normality here or if actually I'm living the "new normal"

Today was the first time in months that I met indoors with a friend (I know )

It was in the centre so I had to pay for parking, I found myself using a wipe to touch the parking meter.
Before entering the restaurant I sanitised my hands, once in the restaurant I sanitised my hands as I'd touched the chair before sitting down and became aware of possible contamination!

We then ordered a drink and I found myself sanitising again as I'd touched the glass.

We were there for two hours and I just couldn't stop sanitising.

I've come home and taken off all my clothes to wash them straight away.

My friend only sanitised before eating, but I noticed she'd touched the chair and other surfaces a lot!!!

Am I being OTT? Or is my friend quite relaxed?

@Belladonna12

This is absolutely correct There's a reason everyone is coming down with colds/bugs at the moment, we have no immunity to anything.

Rubbish. Most adults have been building up their immune systems for for years. Immunity doesn't disappear because they've had a few months off being infected with anything. I don't know anyone who's had a cold bug for months including DC.

www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-hand-gel-sanitiser-superbugs-a9697031.html

@Jigglypuffly

Have you had tenancies towards OCD/obsessiveness before this year?!

@Jigglypuffly

Not really, no.

I've always used alcohol gel, carried it with me for years.

@stardrops007

OP genuine question, why did you sanitise your hands when you touched your glass if you then drank from the glass?

I put so much sanitiser on and rubbed it over the glass...

That's seriously extreme, and also very unhealthy.

Sanitiser isn't meant to be put on things that go in your mouth!

I sanitise my hands before I go in anywhere like a shop or restaurant. I wash them if I use the toilet and I use my own sanitiser On the way out. Just as much for the benefit of the place I’m visiting as mine ( good basic hygiene) I don’t even really think of tables, chairs, cutlery etc.

Try not to touch loads of handles/rails etc if I can push a door etc, but the risk is minimal anyway. I worked in a hospital throughout and used buses back in Feb/March when it all started and still didn’t catch covid.

I’m careful but not obsessive I think that can become a problem.

@wixx

It's the first time you have been out in months your bound to go a bit over the top. Try going out a few more times and see if you relax a bit 😊

@wixx

But cases are rising again now so I feel like I need to be even more vigilant.

Sanitisers also kill the good bacteria as well as the bad.

No, I'm much more relaxed. I'll sanitise before eating and before and after leaving a venue, but that's about it.

I do use my elbow or knuckle to push buttons, and try to avoid touching anything with my fingertips. But sometimes it's not possible, and I just shrug and move on. I did stuff like that before Covid anyway, it's just as much about grossness of touching stuff when others don't wash their hands after the loo.

I have clothes that I wear when going out, but I take them off and leave them on a chair to wear again. I just change into more relaxed clothes when at home, so it's not so much about hygiene as comfort.

I use public transport most days, go to restaurants, museums, go shopping for leisure, take my toddler to soft play and indoor classes. I'm not high risk so I don't feel the need to take excessive precautions.

Cafes and restaurants have to follow Covid safe procedures. If they appear to be following social distancing rules and test and trace then I trust them to have staff who follow hand washing/sanitising procedures. If the other procedures look suspect then I wouldn't be eating there anyway. I think re sanitising your hands, sanitising the glass and taking your own cutlery were OTT. Sanitising after touching a parking machine is fine.

Genuinely, @stardrops007 have you considered that you might have become a bit hypervigilant and over anxious? It's quite extreme to slather a glass with sanitiser and use a wipe on the machine. Perhaps make a phone appointment with your GP?

I would've sanitized on the way into the restaurant and on leaving again. If I'd gone to the toilet I would've washed my hands and probably sanitized as I passed a station.

You haven't gone mad and you certainly haven't got OCD. It's a fairly natural though extreme reaction to the pandemic. I'd consciously try to chill a bit and think if it's really necessary every time you think about sanitizing or handwashing. This is the same advice I give to my daughter who does have OCD and is destroying the skin on her hands

No I'm not doing any of that. Honestly I'm not really doing anything more than what I did back in Feb? Except using hand sanitiser when it's offered I guess.

I think you're being OTT but that said at least you are getting out and this enabling you to do so, so it doesn't matter too much? Although the own knife and fork made me smile!

I used a lot of hand sanitiser in work before/after patient contact etc though I prefer hand washing properly. I don’t think it affects my immune system. (I do think working with sick people helps it and I’ve a very good one I rarely get ill)

I do think excessive use of it and over cleanings/sterilising everything in sight is not healthy though.

Way way OTT. More likely to be injured or die on drive to meet your friend today than contract and die from Covid.

Did I read it right that you sat at a different table from your friend? Are you actually serious?

YABU in the extreme and I feel sorry that you are acting like this, must be a debilitating way of life.

I was a bit like this in the beginning. I'm a bit more sloppy these days as I had Covid back in April. But I'm still washing my hands a lot more often, using a paper napkin to open the toilet door, washing my hands as soon as I get home, etc.

The only time I have used sanitizer is where shops or restaurants have insisted on it. I agree that the over use of wipes, sanitizer and generally disinfecting everything constantly will cause more harm than good as we need a certain level of germ exposure to ensure a healthy immune system.

@Lougle

Genuinely, *@stardrops007* have you considered that you might have become a bit hypervigilant and over anxious? It's quite extreme to slather a glass with sanitiser and use a wipe on the machine. Perhaps make a phone appointment with your GP?

@Lougle

I'm not unwell. I feel fine. Happy, enjoying life.

I guess my reaction to the pandemic has been a little extreme.

I'm genuinely interested in how everyone else acts.

I sanitise on entry to locations that offer alcohol gel unless I’ve recently done so. I don’t wipe unless directed by policy (and think it’s bloody stupid as I do it). I bite my nails. Always have done. I wash my hands after I’ve been to the toilet.

I only wash my hands after using the loo and prior to food prep / eating.
I've never used hand sanitizer.
I was tested positive in June and I didn't even know I had it!
I seem to be disgustingly healthy.
Your regime is OTT op. You need to relax a bit.

@StillCounting123

Did I read it right that you sat at a different table from your friend? Are you actually serious?

Yes, but only because we both had our children in prams so needed the space!! We were sat on a long bench type seat our tables were side by side!

I think you sound very paranoid, and if you haven't had obsessive tenancies before then you need to be mindful that you don't start on a path that may spiral and lead to unhealthy behaviour. I mean that in a kind way.

It's sensible to follow good measures of hygiene and take responsibility for yourself, but taking your own cutlery out and sanitising that much is definitely OTT. If you're going to a covid secure place, you need to trust that they are following all of the necessary measures so that you can just sanitise when you go in.

Covid is a worry, but there are so many other threats out there that you wouldn't follow this level of precaution for. It is a bit out of proportion.

Did you friend pick up on it or say anything?

@Kolsch

I only wash my hands after using the loo and prior to food prep / eating.
I've never used hand sanitizer.
I was tested positive in June and I didn't even know I had it!

Maybe this is why you tested positive...?

I wash my hands/sanitise before eating and after the toilet and when I get I to the house ow where I am going. I carry it with me and am aware of what I touch but if I was you I would have parked. gone into the restaurant and used sanitiser one time after I was sat down but before touching my glass or cutlery.

Glass and cutlery will have been washed in a dishwasher and I will take my chances with the waiting staffs hygiene.

I don’t own any sanitiser, I just try to wash my hands more.

No we are not all living like that.

We are all different, my mother sanitised her hands after driving for an hour in her own car, she must have sanitised a dozen times in the 3 - 4 hours I was with her at her house! I wash my hands when I use the loo or handle raw meat etc. Occasionally I remember to wash them having been to the supermarket but I usually munch biscuits in the car on the way home anyway. I'm not a poster child for coronavirus prevention