I don't know about you but I hate being sick and catching disease and I've hardly gotten sick in the last 20 years. I think a lot of sickness and disease is spread by people who should be staying home in bed and treating their illness instead of going out and spreading germs to others in public places, work, public transportation, etc. Some of you probably won't approve of my methods and think I'm being a selfish, narrow minded snob. Well, at least I've been a healthy one!
I'm not a Doctor and what works for me, may not work for you, especially if you feel guilty for following any of my advice if you feel it compromises your personal integrity. The main secret I've found to minimizing sickness and disease can be summed up in one word - AVOIDANCE! This means trying to avoid being around or near sick people and potentially sick people as much as possible. How do I do this? Well a lot of you are not going to like my answers but they work for me:
1. Avoid using public toilets as much as possible, If you can't, always put paper underneath and get out as fast as you can. As a general rule, I try to use my own private toilet only and won't allow anyone in my bathroom. My girlfriend, friends or family can use the guest bathroom, I won't let them enter my bathroom at all.
2. If someone at work shows obvious signs of sickness, avoid them at all costs and try to make it known to your supervisor that he should ask this person to go home and come back to work when healthy. If you work right next to them, see if its possible to temporarily work at another desk. If someone says why, just say the sick worker is distracting you with their coughing, sneezing, etc. I'd also suggest if possible, you get your Office to hold a general meeting about how it is not productive for anyone to come to work sick as it will cause more sickness and loss of productivity, etc. People who come to work sick are not being heroes but carrier villains. Sick leave is there for a reason.
3. Here's where you are now going to call me a miserable excuse for a human being. I would avoid being around people who in all likelihood don't have health insurance and in my personal opinion are more susceptible to being sick, letting things fester and not taking care of themselves as well as they can. I personally think its a disgrace that the United States doesn't have Medical Insurance for everyone. I also would avoid eating at fast food places, cheap bars, etc., as I'm guessing patrons are more likely not to have health insurance as well.
4. If you have to ride public transportation, try to sit apart from everyone as much as possible.
5. If you're on a plane and the person either next to you, in your row, or behind you is coughing or sneezing or exhibiting any kinds of illness, don't be afraid of making an ass of yourself and asking the stewardess to change your seat. The last time I was really sick, I was on a 6 hour flight with no empty seats and the person sitting directly behind me, was coughing non-stop the whole flight. I caught something from him the next day and was sick for 3 weeks.
6. Try to avoid being near kids as much as possible as they're more likelier then adults in my opinion to be sick as they don't take care of themselves as well.
7. If you go to a Doctors Office try to either sit by yourself when waiting or just wait in the hallway and ask them to call you when the Doctor is ready because guess what, sick people wait in the doctors office and why should you get sick from them!
8. If you're married or if you have a girlfriend or boyfriend and your partner is sick, no matter how much they curse you out, try to sleep in a spare bedroom or on the couch. Take the bedroom sheets to the dry cleaner when they've recovered. Whatever you do, avoid all physical contact.
9. If you're at the Post Office or Supermarket waiting on line and someone on the line is coughing, sneezing, smelling of liquor or looking run down go to another line far away or wait till they leave the premises before going online again.
10. Try to always have a full nights sleep, as the less sleep you have, the more vulnerable you are to catching something.
11. Get a Flu Shot annually and try to get Booster Shots every 5 to 10 years as applicable.
12. Do not go out in the cold lightly dressed or out in the heat with too much on. Just because football fans get shown on TV bare chested in the middle of the Winter doesn't mean that you have to.
13. Try to avoid drinking and smoking as best you can and being around smokers.
14. Do not get intimate with someone you just met without at least having some gut feeling that they're not carrying any kind of STD or illness. Always take a hot shower after sex.
15. Get health insurance and seek medical help when you think its necessary so you don't let things go out of hand.
I can go on and on but these are the basics that jump at me. If you think I'm being ridiculous as well as being narrow minded by making stereotyped assumptions based on no factual statistics, just remember, stereotypes wouldn't exist in the first place, if there wasn't at least some basis of truth!
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