Editor:
The war against our invisible enemy, COVID-19, continues unabated.
Governments and medical professionals are unsparing with their advice on our social behavior, the precautions we should take, the rules we should observe. They even tell us how to sneeze, into our elbows or our sleeves.
Each time I see one our vaunted professionals urge us to do this I shake my head in disbelief. Sneeze in your elbow? This is absolutely disgusting. Are you going to walk around all day with snot and other solid particles on your sleeves? What if you have to sneeze a number of times? How many sleeves do we have available? What if you are in short sleeves? Have these geniuses who urge us to carry on this vile practice never heard of handkerchiefs (hankies) and Kleenexes?
When I was a small child, centuries ago, my mother would always check and make sure that I had a hankie in my pocket when I headed off to school. My school mates all carried hankies, which we called – we were the cool guys- “snot rags.”
But in the recent past the practice of carrying a hankie has fallen by the wayside in this country. People sneeze into their hands (yuck!), into the open air, or futilely try to repress the sneeze, not realizing that this back pressure eventually causes brain damage, which in turn explains …
I would like to suggest that the authorities and trend setters start to encourage people to carry a hankie, or even two, if you are prone to sneezing. Let’s make sneezing into your sleeve a thing of the past, like spitting in a restaurant or bar.
Let’s all carry hankies and Kleenexes and keep our noses and sleeves clean.
If we can convince men that you need four blades in a razor in order to shave properly, and if we can convince mature women that ripped and torn jeans are haute couture, then we can convince people that hankies are the hygienic, sanitary and more elegant way to go.
Bless you!
Frank Buonanno
