{"id":2051,"date":"2020-03-04T14:08:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T18:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2020-04-22T12:15:26","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T16:15:26","slug":"how-will-the-face-touchers-go-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/?p=2051","title":{"rendered":"How will the face-touchers go on?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This just in from The New York Times<\/em>: Want to stay healthy? Stop touching your face! Your FACE! Don\u2019t touch it. That\u2019s where problems start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not being cynical or sarcastic. I\u2019m not poking fun. I\u2019m\nnot mocking health officials. It\u2019s true. The article was a wake-up call and has\nme freaked out \u2026 because I\u2019m not sure I can do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headline read: \u201cA hands-off approach to your face is\nprudent.\u201d It was about the coronavirus and how experts recommend that one of\nthe best ways to stave off infection and keep the virus from spreading is to do\none simple thing: stop putting your fingers near the open parts of that orb on\nyour neck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like your eyes. And your mouth. And your nose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It actually makes total sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hands are constantly touching things, and picking up all\nmanner of foreign particles and germs as we go. To make matters worse, we\nchronic face-touchers then give these germs easy access when we rub an eye or\ntouch a lip. Seems so innocent and harmless, but it\u2019s like an interstate\non-ramp for a virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m one of the worst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a million ticks. A million nervous habits. And about\nhalf of them involve doing something with my face. I scratch my cheek. Pinch my\nchin. Run my finger across my eyebrow, or nose, or ear. In meetings I assume\n\u201cThe Thinker\u201d pose with head resting thoughtfully on my hand. Or grow agitated,\nand do the fist-to-the-side-of-my-face like I\u2019m grumpy. I have ear twirls. (I\nwould have to show you \u2026 it\u2019s too hard to explain.) Chin coochie-coochie-coos.\n(I would prefer not to show you \u2026 it\u2019s just weird.) And now, for health\nreasons, they should all be off-limits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m serious. Because I\u2019m actually taking this coronavirus\nthing to heart. It has me a little freaked out. I\u2019m the guy who doesn\u2019t normally\nworry about things like this. The one who tells his wife and daughter that food\ncan be eaten off the floor because if you snatch it up quick enough, the germs will\nliterally fly off. (There isn\u2019t much science behind this theory, but in my head\nit makes a lot of sense.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this new virus has me re-thinking my ways. We all should\nbe. And this face thing? It has me realizing it\u2019s time to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only, I\u2019m finding it\u2019s not so easy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried a little experiment the other day to see if I could\ngo a couple hours without letting any of my \u201cface fondles\u201d get the best of me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can do this, man,\u201d I told myself to boost my\nconfidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, like a baseball catcher signaling pitches, I proceeded\nto rub the bridge of my nose, flip an eyebrow, scratch my cheek and then tug\nthree times on my ear lobe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AHHH! DANGIT!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reset and started again, trying some deep breathing and\nconcentrating. It worked for all of, I don\u2019t know, 13 seconds before the voice\nin my head started calling to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey buddy, my eye itches. What do ya\u2019 say you scratch it\nfor me, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. I can\u2019t. It\u2019s un-hygienic. Leave me alone. It\u2019s fine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeriously, man. It\u2019s just an eye. You gotta\u2019 scratch it. Come\non \u2026 NOW!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop it. Go away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDude, come on. This is getting serious! Now my nose is\nitching. Right there on the side. Do something, friend! It really itches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read an article, OK? Just knock it off. We have to protect\nour self!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOH MY GOSH, IT FEELS LIKE A COLONY OF BEES JUST LANDED ON\nMY FACE!!! You have to take both your hands and just rub them all over\neverything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AHHHHHHH!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, and by the way, see that piece of gum on the sidewalk?\nPick it up and put it in your mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s like being a grown-up 3-year-old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m gonna\u2019 do. I\u2019m trying. Trying to get\nover my neurotic, twitchy ways. Trying to do it for my own health, and everyone\nelse\u2019s. But it\u2019s a struggle. (Scratch-scratch.) I\u2019m going to keep working on it,\nthough. (Ear tug.) And hopefully I\u2019ll make some progress soon. (Rub-rub,\nscratch, tug-tug-tug, chin coochie-coochie-coo.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This just in from The New York Times: Want to stay healthy? Stop touching your face! Your FACE! Don\u2019t touch it. That\u2019s where problems start. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not being cynical or sarcastic. I\u2019m not poking fun. I\u2019m not mocking health officials. It\u2019s true. The article was a wake-up call and has me freaked out \u2026 because I\u2019m not sure I can do it. <\/p>\n

The headline read: \u201cA hands-off approach to your face is prudent.\u201d It was about the coronavirus and how experts recommend that one of the best ways to stave off infection and keep the virus from spreading is to do one simple thing: stop putting your fingers near the open parts of that orb on your neck. <\/p>\n

Like your eyes. And your mouth. And your nose. <\/p>\n

It actually makes total sense. <\/p>\n

Our hands are constantly touching things, and picking up all manner of foreign particles and germs as we go. To make matters worse, we chronic face-touchers then give these germs easy access when we rub an eye or touch a lip. Seems so innocent and harmless, but it\u2019s like an interstate on-ramp for a virus. <\/p>\n

And I\u2019m one of the worst. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576,577,574],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2020-nutshells","category-coronavirus","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2052,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions\/2052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}