The Tiny Ugly Germs

I have always been a germ-conscious person, but with all the swine flu hysteria going around lately, this trait of mine has ramped into high gear. I read somewhere that swine flu only gets in through your mouth and nose (Confirmation Clint?) and that you should avoid touching your face at all costs. I never realized how much I did touch my face I had to stop doing it cold turkey. Try it sometime. It'll drive you crazy.

I did everything I could to stay well. I was a woman possessed. I washed my hands until they cracked and scabbed, gargled saline, swabbed out my nostrils with saltwater, and developed a fear of touching anything in my workspace. Have you ever had a moment in which you wash your hands, and then can't bring yourself to touch anything because you can't risk spoiling your decontamination efforts? Trapped! It was a war zone. Kids were falling ill one by one, teachers were out sick for days at a time, but my descent into obsessive compulsive disorder was working! I was going to make it through unscathed.

Then, BAM! Last Thursday I drive home with a splitting headache, I barely make it through school on Friday, and then I spend the weekend unconscious on the couch. Luckily I just have a little cold, for which I blame Thomas, and I'm pretty much over it now. I was well enough to speak in church on Sunday and go to work the past two days, but I almost wish I was sick enough to stay home. I feel fine, but I have a runny nose and a cough, and in my new state of heightened germ awareness, I feel like I can see the germs coming out of me and attacking everyone around me. Everything I touch glows like radioactive waste, and I can see the journey of my germs as they migrate around the school. I cough into my hand or wipe my nose, and then pass out the correcting pencils or the day's assignment, touch the communal teacher microwave, the doorknob to my classroom, and feel a pang of guilt each time I leave another glowing green patch in my waste. It's quite the dilemma: too well to stay home but sick enough to possibly be contagious. Obviously I have chosen the selfish option, so I just hope that nobody gets sick while I am getting well.

And now we must get to the title of my post (and to be honest, the real reason why I took the time to write this whole thing in the first place) which comes from the popular, but extremely creepy kids show Yo Gabba Gabba. For some unknown reason, someone was playing it in a classroom on Halloween and I witnessed this gem, which teaches us about those tiny ugly germs which make us sick. Enjoy!

UPDATE: The link to the video was broken but has since been repaired.