Man is very big in wanting to control everything: nature for example, weather and animals. The aging process. Or the financial markets. And the cravings for chocolate. But the reality shows again and again: we just do not have a chance. Humanity must understand that it is at the mercy of some powers. And show some humility. So go over to the fridge and eat the plate Edelherb. Well, what can you do. Can not fight you in the end after all.
Despite this realization, it has been strange for some time in Berlin to fight bacteria. On countless bags, rucksacks and prams dangle these small bottles with hand disinfection gel in pink or blue, and I wonder what the wearer actually want to say with this display: hands up, you bacteria, I’m armed? In the supermarket, you can disinfect the handle of his shopping cart, at the bank, I now watched a woman as she wiped the keyboard of the ATM with a disinfectant cloth. Even in the drugstore: gels, sprays and wipes as if it were to turn the whole city into an absolutely germ-free place. And yes: The things are an absolute blockbuster as a study of the market research firm Nielsen already revealed last year. If someone wanted to roast a fried egg on the asphalt of Potsdamer Platz or to turn a U6 wagon into an operating room, that would be okay. But that’s not even going to be the case in Berlin.
Where does all this sudden fear of germs come from? Was not it enough to wash your hands regularly with warm water and soap? Have we all become paranoid now? If you think about it, it tends to be disgusting in many parts of the city. Handrails in bus and train, door handles, public toilets – I assume that Berlin is a veritable paradise for bacteria, viruses and other organisms. Because of the many tourists and newcomers, we certainly have a very special mix here, I suppose a Berlin bacterium is more resistant, more resistant and certainly also big mouthed than its colleagues from, let’s say, Bielefeld. It probably verbally scolds bacteria from elsewhere and then simply eats them up. With a Happs. Certainly the Berlin bacteria can not be eliminated by these whole gels. On those is always „kills 99.9 percent of bacteria.“ The Berlin super-bacteria is guaranteed to be the remaining 0.1 percent.
I am convinced that this whole disinfection will somehow completely soften us. So a few germs and here and there once an infection are but part of life and harden above all. But that’s just it, the illusion of being in control of everything. You can not protect yourself from a cold, no matter what remedies you buy. And against a juicy Noro virus, such a small pink wrist does not matter anyway.
Friends, remember: cleaning a shopping cart or ATM costs about as much as planning an airport in Berlin: nothing. Because bacteria lurk everywhere, for example, on the money itself. Or in your own purse. Allegedly, there are even more bacteria in there than in a public toilet, so it’s best not to think about it all that much. It’s probably the worst thing you can do in germ-free terms: eating an apple out of your own handbag. A bacterial deadly sin, so to speak. Then we would rather eat the chocolate from the fridge very quickly. Or a fried egg from Potsdamer Platz.
