上班族必備軟實力

[Richard is a healthy male from the USA.]

In Taiwan there are many people in a limited space. Everyone’s breath is recycled into everyone else’s lungs. You breathe in tiny creatures and then breathe out most of those tiny creatures, plus some of your own. Other people breathe yours in and then exhale more. The number of items in the air are amazingly diverse even though they are invisible—they are so tiny. They are filthy germs, and it is almost impossible to completely protect yourself from them.

It is always a good idea to wash your hands often. Alcohol dispensers are placed at the entrance to many public buildings to help stop the spread of disease. They will be more numerous depending on the current state of alert. When entering or leaving a building, it is recommended to douse your hands with alcohol. I was always afraid that my hands would catch on fire if I lit a cigarette.

The hand sanitizer.

Another popular method of protection is the mask. People wear surgical masks to protect themselves and others. It is polite to wear a mask if you go to work when you have a cold. The masks were popular in Taiwan long before any of the recent flu scares. A popular joke with foreigners is that “you know you have been in Taiwan too long when you start thinking that you look good in a face mask”.

Every little precaution will be of help. At the public library, they have a machine that will disinfect your books. I have no idea how it works. They put it in the children’s section. It looks like a large microwave oven.

There have been some scares about flu. Bird flu was big for awhile. You can still see ‘No Birds’ signs at many public places. Luckily, with the diligence of the health department and the cooperation of the public, it never got a strong foothold in Taiwan.

I hope that everyone will play sanitary and keep well. Thank you for reading.