Biohazard in my mailbox

[Siwsan]

I just heard the mail jeep pull up, and I looked out to see if he was putting anything in my mailbox. Hey, it's snowing, and cold, so I don't want to head outside, if I don't have to.

What do I see but the mailman going through just about a full minute of sneezing and nose blowing, then digging into his little cooler to extract what I think was some sort of cold medication that he washed down with some bottled water. THEN he put some letters in the mail box. Ghaaaaaaa. I don't worry about flu, but I sure as hell don't want to handle his cold virus.

I think I might leave it outside, for a while, so that maybe the cold will kill what ever he added to the delivery. This is a very grotty time of the year, that's for sure.

[Buzz Clik]

1. This will help:

Just pop your mail in an autoclave.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. Cold weather won't kill a virus...

Just put it to sleep.

[PoliticAverse]

3. It's not just email that can carry viruses... n/t

[Siwsan]

6. HA!

Great observation!

[pipi_k]

4. Oh yech

This is why I always wash my hands after going out to get my mail.

I can't count the numbers of times I've gotten a cold or something, and I hadn't even been out in public.

It had to have been the mail.

I don't know what, if any, microbes will be killed off by freezing, but hopefully you don't end up catching whatever came flying out the mail guy's nose.

[formercia]

5. That's what killed thousands of Inuit during the great Flu Pandemic of 1918

You would think that living in the far North would protect you from Pandemics, but, thanks to the US Mail, some of the Virus managed to survive and once infected the Flu spread like Wildfire, nearly wiping out whole Villages of Inuit who had little immunity to to Flu, if any.

[Siwsan]

8. I'm pretty lucky because I've never had the flu, but I can fall victim to the cold virus

It's been a while since I've been flattened by a cold, which makes me all that much more worried about this year.

[whistler162]

7. Could be worse.....

someone could have sent you a loaf of sourdough bread!

NOW THAT IS A BIO-HAZARD.

[MineralMan]

9. Every household should have a box of disposable gloves.

They're cheap. In a situation like that, you pull a pair on, open your mail and discard the envelopes. They're useful for many jobs where you might pick up some nasty stuff. There's a box in the second drawer on the far left of my kitchen sink cabinet. I use them for many reasons, like cleaning doggie accidents and handling the moldy, rotten onion I forgot about.

There's no reason not to take such precautions, and plenty of reasons to do so. The other option is to wash your hands thoroughly or use hand sanitizer after handling nasty things, but before touching other things or your face.

Life's full of nasty things. Smart people deal with them intelligently and don't bother even discussing such occasions.

[bluestate10]

11. I stock latex glove, paper towels and rubbing alcohol at home. They come in handy. nt

[MineralMan]

13. Yup. I can't believe that people don't have such things on hand.

They're cheap and indispensable. Avoiding illness is the best way to stay healthy.

[bluestate10]

10. Go to the drugstore and buy latex gloves and rubbing alcohol. Change gloves, wipe the envelops with

paper towels dampened with rubbing alcohol and allow them to sit for several minutes before opening them.

[Siwsan]

12. The junk mail is going directly into the fireplace

That's GOTTA kill the virus.

[Cleita]

14. Or, you can don rubber gloves and a mask yourself and wipe /spray said

offending mailbox and mail with disinfectant. The cold won't kill all microbes, just make some of the dormant until you take them inside and you might hope those aren't the viruses you are trying to avoid.

[datasuspect]

15. just get a level A hazmat suit

http://www.marshalsafety.com/GroupInfo/GroupID/253

[Siwsan]

16. Hmmm, a couple of boxes of tissues and some cold pills might be cheaper

I've been pretty lucky, so far. A few co-workers have been sick, and one moron came in, infested wtih SCABIES. Yes, active scabies. Yet, I have remained unscathed - so far. However, that hazmat suit would have been tempting to wear to work, if only to make a point that people with active SCABIES infestations should NOT be coming in to work.

[Renew Deal]

17. I thought your post was about this:

[Siwsan]

18. Now, they look like they might involve a whole other kind of contagion.

[darkangel218]

19. I grew up with this band x