The Dorothy Syndrome: Disinfecting Our Lives

I grew up in a house that was CLEAN. It was often messy, but always clean. Dorothy, our mom, used Lysol liberally. She would spray my suitcase whenever I came to visit and ordered me to remove my shoes before entering. The shoes were then summarily sprayed, too. I thought she was nuts.

Food received the same clean treatment. Put all the canned goods in the sink. Milk, too. Wash with soap and water before putting away. Soak all the fruit and vegetables in vinegar water. You never know who touched them, she would say. I thought she was nuts.

I loved our mom. We all did. We forgave her these idiosyncracies. We played along and did what we were told. As adult visitors entering into the sacrosanct household of CLEAN, we learned to be compliant. We did the treatment outlined above for all food and beverage that we brought in. And, I thought she was nuts.

This morning, Jacob went out to greet the day and be at Sprouts at 7 a.m. when this local SoCal organic market opened. He brought back the remnants and what no one else wanted: cereal, blue corn chips, strawberry jam, organic tomatoes and carrots, the last piece of fresh salmon, one red onion, a bunch of very ripe bananas, roast turkey lunch meat. He reported that the shelves were bare.

I sanitized it all.

There are six bottles of Microdyne in the luggage and one behind the kitchen sink. I brought these from Oaxaca, where we gueros use this religiously to disinfect all fresh fruit and vegetables. Each Microdyne bottle costs about $1 USD. I poured isopropyl alcohol into a small spray bottle.

The vegetables are soaking in 16 drops of Microdyne for 30 minutes. I sprayed all the boxes and containers with alcohol. Who knows who touched them?

Hi, Mom.

Our mom passed at age 99-3/4 on November 15, 2015. This essay is a loving tribute to her. Was she nuts?

PLEASE READ this Facebook post from math nerd/HR expert Jason Warner. It’s important!