Sanitizing and Driving Don't Mix 

Oh, did I have a close call this morning trying to stay germ free.

I had just dropped off the kids at school and was driving to work when I sneezed. I have a cold. So, at the next red light, I grabbed the hand sanitizer that is always by my side these days, plopped some on my hands, and rubbed. I was still rubbing when the light turned green, which forced me to grab the wheel prematurely. As I tried to grip the steering wheel my hands began sliding all over the place. I hadn’t rubbed enough. Thankfully I didn’t need to make a sharp turn. I could have crashed. At least it would have been a germ-free crash.

I did arrive safely at work. Thanks for asking. There’s sanitizer everywhere here in the CNN Atlanta newsroom. Most of it claims to kill 99.99 percent of germs. I don’t think about the .01. You can’t live your life that way. .02 percent maybe. But not .01.

My personal brand of sanitizer, the one I used in the car, is from Whole Foods. The label says: 62 percent organic alcohol. ORGANIC ALCOHOL. I thought, is this for real? Alcohol is alcohol. It’s made from … well, I actually don’t know what source is used for alcohol in hand sanitizers. So I decided to investigate.