Embellishing on commentary idea

A trend I notice here at UCF and most places I go nowadays that seems to stick out to me is the hand sanitizer trend. Everyone carries a bottle of hand sanitizer on their keychain or in their purse. The school has dispensers at every corner and now military bases and hospitals have their spaces filled with it as well. The swine flu pandemic is a big contributor to this hand sanitizer craze. At UCF we even have a student that hands out free bottles outside the student union every Friday as long as you answer some basic questions about how to cough and avoid contaminating yourself. As I sit and observe I notice people cringe and back away from the slightest sneeze or cough and right away pull out that hand sanitizer and douse themselves in it, some even up to their elbows. It made me wonder, has this increase in hygiene really lowered the number of flu contaminations? Has it truly helped us? Or is it all in our heads? Along with this topic I have heard many myths, including the fact that one becomes immune to the hand sanitizer if used excessively. Posters telling one how to cough, sneeze, and even wash our hands have popped up everywhere too. I’m sure people many years ago would never have thought that they needed and ad to tell them how to cough. The hand sanitizer trend has affected me greatly. It makes me feel like I’m in a bubble that protects me from all the bacteria in the world when I take out my favorite Japanese Cherry Blossom hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works. This also makes me wonder if sales have increased in stores such as Bath and Body Works that sell these mini hand sanitizer bottles in scents that range from every flower possible to warm vanilla. As I observe my close friends and family members I notice they have also decided that the little squirt of hand sanitizer on their flesh creates a shield against our foe, the swine flu.