Do you have germs? Yep, you do. Everyone has germs. And summertime is such a great way to spread them!

Did you know that everyone is susceptible to certain germs?

For instance, there are *Smith* germs at the Smith house, and *Jones* germs at the Jones house. If *Smith* germs come to the Jones' house, the Jones' immunity may not be what it takes to overcome or ward off the *Smith* germs. That means that the Smiths could make the Joneses sick -- literally. And vice versa.

Why am I telling you this? Because there are cooks out there who lick their fingers and tell themselves that they are clean people, that people won't get sick if they come and eat their food. Or the people at the pot luck won't get sick from their salad. Or Jeanie's little kindergarten friends won't get sick from her treats. That it's the *dirty* people who spread the germs.

Some people take umbrage at being asked if their hands were clean. How weird is that? If their hands aren't clean, they could be making someone sick and not even realize it.

Old or sick people, whether Smiths or Joneses, are very susceptible to germs. *Are your hands clean?* is not an unreasonable question. However, there is a way to ask that doesn't offend so make sure you find it, because that isn't our intention. In fact, some might prefer to eat the offending food -- rather than offend the person.

One way to ask the question might be: *Are your hands clean? Grandma's immune system isn't very good and germs we can handle will be bad for her. Why don't we go wash our hands together?* Or this: *Are your hands clean? The flu is going around and we should all make sure we do our part in not spreading it.* Or this is a good one at parties, *No double dipping, please.* Which means that you don't put a carrot in the dip, take a bite, then dip it again. If you like a lot of dip, spoon some on a plate. Your hostess will thank you for it.

NOTE: When you help others, you help yourself. Do your best NOT to insinuate that the *other* people are dirty. We all are when it comes to germs.

Thanks for reading.
Jan

~~~~~~~~~
Copyright 2001, Jan Tincher, All Rights Reserved Worldwide
---------------------------------------------------------------
Learn unique strategies and techniques for personal success from Jan Tincher online at http://www.TameYourBrain.com If you would like to subscribe to her free weekly e-zine, click now: Mailto:tameyourbrain-subscribe@listbot.com

==>Publishers, you are welcome to reprint this article in its entirety provided you retain the above resource box and include this notice, plus notify us of the day(s) you will be running it.

Author's Bio: 

Learn unique strategies and techniques for personal success
from Jan Tincher online at http://www.TameYourBrain.com If you would like to subscribe to her free weekly e-zine, click now: Mailto:Mailto:tameyourbrain-subscribe@lb.bcentral.com