My burgeoning germ phobia...

While one might have been able to describe me as a tad bit neurotic [in a Woody Allen sort of way, I like to think...] before entering into this Japan Experiment, one could not include any sort of germ phobia as part of that neuroses.

Tonight, on the train home, it struck me [quite possibly literally] that Japan might be changing that.

People are constantly sneezing, coughing, hacking and making all kinds of noises associated with sickness on the trains. This would be acceptable if these people would cover their mouths, and/or not be practically face to face with you on the insanely crowded trains while doing it. Everyday someone on the train [who is standing closer to me than I stand to my friends] coughs, sneezes, etc., in my general direction. Everyday I close my eyes and hold my breath when this happens. Everyday I think to myself, Please let the immune system be working right now!

Tonight on the train, there was a man standing uncomfortably close to me--uncomfortable because the train wasn't crowded enough to warrant such closeness. He was a nervous looking businessman. When I looked a little closer at him, I noticed that his skin was discolored and he seemed to be shedding some of it in small flakes. It was at this point that he started scratching his face. I thought about something I had read in some high school era science class:

"Every breath you take is made up of approximately 80% dead skin cells."

This man was scratching his skin off and it was going directly into my nose. I shut my eyes and tried to hold my breath. I cursed the man, who, when I peeked, was still scratching. And then I started thinking about germs. I couldn't help myself... I don't know what was wrong with this man's skin. Maybe he had just gotten a sunburn and was peeling... Or maybe he was in the beginning stages of leprosy.

I think this is how these things usually start. A stranger scratching his skin into your nose on the train one day leads to a lifetime of repetitive hand washing the next. God help me.