Do you remember the big sinks in the classrooms in elementary school?
I do.
I grew up on a small farm with well water. My dad (who was claustrophobic) had to hand dig the well deeper to access the underground water. Can you imagine going down that small hole with a shovel and being petrified at the same time? I’m not sure I could have done it.
The well had a pump that used banana tree rods to reach the bottom and pump the water. Getting parts was extremely difficult. Needless to say, water was a coveted commodity in our family. You never left the water running, you washed your hands quickly, shared the bath water that was only two inches deep with the other family members and never let the water run down the drain until the water turned cold for a nice, cold glass of water.
To this day, the sound of running water does not relax me. It stresses me out! I hear my mom or dad yelling, “Shut the water off!” Anyway, back to elementary school. I remember standing in line at that huge sink stained with poster paints to wash our hands before we went to lunch. Our teacher would stand next to us and watch us use the soap and clean our hands. She kept the water continuously flowing (on low, mind you, but still running the whole time) as each student washed their hands and dried them on one of those old white cloth towel dispensers.
I must say, this caused me anxiety every day as I listened to that running water going down, down, down the sink. I washed quickly, tapped my hands on the edge of the sink so I didn’t drip to the towel dispenser. “No, no, no!” my teacher would say, frowning. “You’ve touched the sink. You’ve contaminated your hands. Go to the end of the line and do it again.”
Do you think that stressed me even more?
Yeah, you’re right.
At home, the kitchen hand towel was not by the sink. It was across the room attached to the wall. Mom didn’t want you to drip water clear across the floor so you had to shake the water off your hands and you could do a much better job if you tapped them against the edge of the sink. Great for home, bad for school.
Today in the midst of the pandemic, we are constantly washing our hands. Do I still have anxiety about wasting water, touching the edge of the sink, dripping water across the floor and hearing voices say, “No, no, no! Do it again?”
You better believe I do.
Stay safe. Stay well, Wash your hands!





Cindy A. Christiansen
Sweet Romance, Humor, Suspense...and Dogs!
Fly into a good book at: http://www.dragonflyromance.com

Cindy A. Christiansen
Sweet (clean) Romance Author