I've always felt a bit out of the norm as I do not carry hand sanitizer in my purse and seldom use it. It is a staple at our church and pump bottles are kept everywhere including the side of the altar. Before Communion, everyone at the altar including the altar boys, have to make use of this. I have yet to understand why the altar boys are obliged to do so as they are not distributing Communion. The people who are most fond of holding hands at the Our Father and going far and wide to shake as many hands as possible at the Sign of Peace finish up this 'liturgy' with the passing of the hand sanitizer bottle. In the olden days, the scent of incense used to linger in the church. Now, it is the smell of hand sanitizer as some groups of people pass it up and down the pew.
I'm a soap and water person. When my children were growing up, I trained them to keep their hands away from their faces when we were out shopping. I realized there are a lot of touched surfaces in the stores so not spreading them to mouths and noses made sense. We washed up thoroughly when we got home and didn't get any more than our share of seasonal colds. I always thought that hand sanitizer was overkill. I also wondered what the bacteria was doing as we all know that when one avenue is closed off to the little critters, they find another. Seems like my thinking was on the right track.
http://www.independentlivingnews.com/2013/08/21/avoid-popular-superbug-breeding-substance/#.UhTBwizn-r8
Like anything in life, it is not the use of a product that is the problem but the fact that the serious ingredient is often in many other products we don't think about. Humans tend to overdo not realizing it is more far reaching than they thought.
