Friday, May 29, 2020

Mysophobia




Not only did Howard Hughes clomp around with tissue boxes on his feet to avoid germs,
he provided his staff with intricate directions on opening a can of peaches, to include scrubbing the can down to the metal, washing it again and emptying it into a bowl without touching the can to the bowl.


One of Elvis’ favorite barbecue treats was a big slab of bologna, grilled, and slathered with sauce. To eat it, he most likely used his own set of silverware, which he carried with him everywhere in order to avoid other peoples' cutlery.


On St. Elsewhere,  self-professed germaphobe Howie Mandel, who from 1982 - 88 played Dr. Wayne Fiscus of the curly locks, in later years has gone fully bald because he says it feels cleaner. 



 



Nikola Tesla was rumored to use 17 clean towels a day.




          And yet in today’s world, TV detective Adrian Monk with his suitcase of wipes and his terror of shaking hands, is beginning to look pretty normal about now, isn’t he?

10 comments:

  1. Yes, they do look normal in today's world. Except for the boxes of Kleenex used as shoes. Oh, my! :-)

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  2. My dad wouldn't use a kitchen towel because of germs. He insisted on using paper towels to dry his hands, a new one every time. It drove me crazy.

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  3. People acting the old normal on tv almost seem out of sync to me.

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  4. I fail to see how scrubbing the tin down to metal helps, but do understand emptying it without the can touching the bowl.
    I wonder what historians will make of our behaviour at the moment.
    Mysophobics (like introverts) are in their element.

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  5. Some people live a very terrifying life trying to avoid germs. Howard Hughes had many weird habits caused by his obsessive compulsive personality disorder.

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  6. All the cleaning stuff remains in the cupboard under the sink. I can't be bothered.

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  7. I'd totally forgotten about Monk. I used to want to reach into the TV and smear a little dirt on him.
    I don't clean so much either, certainly don't go around sterilising anything. I never did that even when I had babies in the house. You'd think I would save a lot of time by NOT scrubbing from dawn to dusk, but I still wonder where the day went when the sun goes down.

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  8. The Many Different Types of OCD
    Checking.
    Contamination.
    Mental Contamination.
    Hoarding.
    Ruminations.
    Intrusive Thoughts.= I had to look it up. My friend has ICD and can not quit cleaning, Great to invite over before an hour early having a party . It is most certainly a form of madness rather than common sense and I do wonder how Covid19 will give license to OCD, I'm feelin' it.

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  9. Interesting! We all have quirks...:)

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  10. Howard Hughes, this is that dude entrepreneur that in the late 1960s was considered the owner of the first or second state in the United States, estimated, according to various sources, at 1.4-2 billion dollars?

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Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.