My brother’s work takes him to China and Southeast Asia seven or eight times a year. (The China travel has been halted for the foreseeable future) During our phone chat last night he mentioned he has not missed a day of work (for illness) in the last five years. A good trick considering how much time he spends in airplanes. The secret, he claims, is a combination of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and small travel bottles of Lysol spray.

He immediately wipes down the seat-back tray, the seat arms, and other surfaces he’s likely to touch during his fifteen hour flights. Surfaces in the restroom get a wipe-down. And he never touches one of those blankets they give you. Surfaces that don’t lend themselves to a disinfectant wipe (in the plan or hotel room) get spritz of Lysol.

As I write this I’m sitting in my favorite coffee shop where the tables get a wipe (usually) between customers but I don’t see any disinfecting going on.

Washing your hands is always a good idea but my chat with my brother has me thinking about all the surfaces we touch in a day that were touched by hundreds of others. All those coughing, nose-wiping, hand-sneezers are not washing their hands.