germs

The comments on my last post have inspired me to relay the following.

I remember when I worked at the gas station, Plizous and I used to talk about how our immune systems would, in time, be super-human because of the amount of germs we would come into contact from handling money all day. Had I gone on to any other job, I'm sure that my immune system would've thrived. As it turned out, I went on to probably the only job that produces more germs.

See, I've been sick pretty much since January. My level of illness waxes and wanes, but for 4 months now I've had a least a touch of something. It's not hard for me to understand why, especially when I'm standing in front of a class of 1st graders with dried snot caked onto their noses.

I wash my hands as much as possible, but avoiding germs here is a Sisyphean task, particularly because students are quite keen on giving me candy or food. Now, if they hand me an individually wrapped piece of candy, sure I've got no problems taking it. But all too often a kid will pull a bit of crumbling chocolate or something directly out of their pocket, and offer it to me in a pair of sweaty hands with the instructions, "Sim-Teacher, eat!" At times like these, I'll take the food, cause some sort of diversion, and discreetly toss it in the trash can.

Also, there are times when germs are just thrust at me. Today, for instance, I was making my usual homework checking rounds in a class when out of nowhere the kid sitting in front of me sneezed. He made no effort to hide his snot projecting prowess, and covered my left arm with God-knows-what.

If a case of swine flu pops up in Korea, I'll probably contract it within hours.