The Presidents Fight Germs the Alcohol Gel Way:

From an article about President Bush's valet:

When President Bush shakes 1,000 hands, Blake Gottesman is ready with the Purell... Part Sherpa, part butler, part air traffic controller, Mr. Gottesman, 25, is the president's personal aide. It is a job steeped in the minutiae of carrying Mr. Bush's Altoids, Sharpie markers and hand sanitizer...

When Bill Clinton ran for President in 1992, he had persistent laryngitis from all the respiratory infections he got from germs he picked up while shaking hands. In 1996, however, Clinton was in fine health because he rubbed his hands with alcohol sanitizer (like Purell) after every meet-and-greet. Bush, who takes excellent care of his health, apparently does the same.

Why don't you?

And why don't restaurants put hand sanitizer dispensers on each table, and fast food restaurants put it on the counter?

A reader writes:

I have Purell on my desk at work but I take a terrible ribbing for it. One former co-worker thought I would damage my health because I wouldn't get exposed to enough germs and therefore wouldn't develop "immunity" as he thought others did! I started using it when I used to run a lot and kept getting colds. Regular use cut down my getting sick significantly. One trick at restaurants is to take along sealed alcohol "pads" (sold in drug stores for use by diabetics prior to self-injections). Alternatively, smaller portable Purell containers about the size of a key chain are sold similar to those used by medical personnel... or at least the medical personnel are supposed to use them per a government directive.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer