That is what happened when we pulled out a certain pink and white piece of fabric with openings and velcro that made us certain it had a specific intended use. We just had no idea what it was. Jonathan quickly decided that it was for next Halloween for which he would dress up as Dumb Donald from Fat Albert.
Take a look - the similarities are quite striking. The color is even right, and I must say, Jonathan is pretty good with his impersonations. We actually had to ask around to figure out what we had received. It turns out that it's a grocery shopping cart cover...because evidently everybody needs these because grocery carts are disgusting.I know that everybody has their thing...I spend way too much time looking up ingredient information on personal products, which I'm sure many people just roll their eyes at. Jonathan and I are the kinds of people who think that there is such a thing as too clean and that a little bit of dirt and germs are good for kids to be exposed to. I did start to wonder, though, just how germy are grocery carts?
And just like that, my question was answered. Healthy Child Healthy World had a blog post titled Which Has More Germs - A Restaurant Tray or a Park Sandbox? Part of me was excited and a bit smug after reading it because it turns out that the shopping cart has the least amount of germs compared with every other item mentioned. Another part of me was bummed that the people in my family (who shall remain nameless) who use a paper towel to turn off the faucet in public restrooms now have some hard data to justify their actions.
I think the post is important in that it shows people that what we perceive as being germy is not necessarily as bad as we think, and vice versa. Take, for example, the fact that a toilet seat has fewer germs than a reusable cafeteria tray. The article also brings up the important, and often overlooked, fact that most germs are benign and live peacefully with us all the time. It basically comes down to the fact that germs are a normal part of life, and normal hand washing is generally enough to protect you and your little ones from any bad germs out there. So, Jonathan, you're free to be Dumb Donald for Halloween.
