If You Thought It Was Silly That They Kept Reminding Us To Wash Our Hands…

This story happened a few years back when the global health crisis was first sweeping the globe, and the hand sanitizer craze was still going strong. I worked for a general goods retail chain, and one of the many different things we sold happened to be hand sanitizer, although, to no one’s surprise, we were temporarily out of stock.

As I was walking by the hand sanitizer and soap aisle, I overheard this encounter between one of my coworkers and an elderly woman who had to be at least in her seventies.

Coworker: “I really am sorry, ma’am, but we probably won’t have any hand sanitizer back in stock for a few days — maybe not even until next week. But if you’re looking for something to keep your hands clean with, we still have plenty of hand soap left in stock. It really is the best thing for washing your hands.”

Elderly Lady: “Wait, really? Soap really washes your hands like that?”

Coworker: “Yeah, it really does. Would you like some?”

Elderly Lady: “Well, I guess I might as well try it; I suppose it couldn’t hurt. Thank you so much, young man.”

There was no sarcasm in that lady’s voice. She was being completely genuine and truly, honestly, seemed to have no idea that hand soap could actually wash your hands effectively. And as old as she was, I can’t help but wonder how she made it that far in life without knowing about the great wonders of soap. I wish this story were a joke.