i remember when i was young - like, really young - there was this advertisement on television for soap, or hand sanitizer, or something. there were these little animated creatures running around that to me, looked like bugs. germ, they were called. they were dirty. then the soap was used, and they were all gone, and everything became brighter and happier.
i can only remember flashes of the ad, it’s not like, ingrained in my brain or anything. but what was ingrained, somehow, was the following:
Those Little Bugs = Germs.
it started off as such a simple equation. one that even i, someone not remotely proficient at solving even the most basic of equations, could answer. it was easy, and it made sense. it was the rule. and rules are made to be followed, not broken.
easy. i can follow rules. so i did.
wash hands with soap and water when they’re dirty, and voila! everything is bright and happy again.
at first that’s all it was. sure, i might have been a little more vigilant about it than most kids, but so what? i was following the rules, and where i could, i made sure others did too.
(You’ve got food on your face. Wipe it off. No, not with your hands, then they’re dirty too.
No, I don’t want to pat your dog. Please keep it away from me. Thanks. Keep it clean.
Cover your mouth when you cough. Not with your hand, everyone knows you’re supposed to do it with your elbow. I think that’s stupid too, though, because now your elbow is contaminated. Really, you should be coughing into tissues, or something else disposable.)
i guess it must have been a manageable amount of rules to follow at the time. adults called me observant, a careful listener. i loved to read and write and sing and dance and act. i was smart, and like they said, observant.
although sometimes i wonder if i was just more… turned on. like there was a switch in my brain that couldn’t be flicked off, making sure i was constantly taking in my surroundings so that i could follow each rule to the letter.
so yeah, it was a manageable amount of rules to follow.
