A reader named Bob sent a note the other day in which he shared a recent coronavirus-related experience in Tinley Park.
Bob said he stayed quarantined in his home most of the time. He ventured out occasionally to the grocery store and home improvement center for essentials. He took walks on trails in Oak Forest, rode his bicycle during good weather and walked up and down Oak Park Avenue.
“Today I saw three disposable gloves of different types in three locations discarded on sidewalks,” he wrote. “Could you please share the danger of this to the public?”
At first I didn’t think Bob’s request warranted a column about something so obvious. Did people really need to be told to not litter? Did they need to hear how they should properly dispose of potentially contaminated medical waste in the midst of a public health crisis?
Apparently, they do.
In the days following Bob’s message there were more indications that he raised an important point. While out and about running essential errands or exercising, I noticed gloves discarded in parking lots and along sidewalks.
One day a video popped up in a social media feed of a woman in a grocery store parking lot. The short clip showed her donning a pair of protective gloves and picking up a discarded pair on the ground. She then walked to a trash can, threw away the discarded gloves, removed her gloves and disposed of them.
It was like a public service message. You do not need a medical expert to tell you why failing to properly dispose of used protective equipment places innocent people at risk of potential exposure to a biohazard. All you need are people like the woman in the video, or Bob.
“These gloves protect the wearer but not someone who touches or gets touched by them,” Bob wrote. “There were many … children walking and we all know how children like to pick things up,” often putting such things in their mouth.
Bob was absolutely right about the purpose of wearing gloves. The point is to stop the spread of germs, bacteria or a virus that has killed more than 6,000 Americans as of Friday. That’s why health care workers should change gloves in between each patient.
That’s why we collectively need millions and millions of gloves and masks at this moment. Each medical professional should have several masks and pairs of gloves each day.
Tossing used gloves on the ground seems rude and disgusting. The problem seems universal. People discussed it Thursday evening in a social media group focused on topics in Blue Island. People said they had seen the same thing in Alsip and Crestwood.
“The people tossing masks and gloves on the ground are the same who hoarded all the (toilet paper) and cleaning necessities,” a member of the group wrote.
I think it all boils down to common courtesy. We should be considerate of others at all times, but especially during a pandemic. Even the smallest of gestures can mean the difference between life and death.
The young and foolish will do stupid things because they don’t know any better. It’s not necessarily a failing of their parents. They lack maturity and the ability to fully recognize consequences of their actions.
The COVID-19 respiratory disease is a global crisis caused by the spread of microscopic particles. If there ever was a time to see how tiny pieces make up a big picture, the pandemic provides an opportunity to learn that lesson.
When our parents raised their 12 children in a southwest suburb, I often wondered why we did things differently than other families on the block. Our late father grew up on a farm in Michigan. He taught us to be mindful of recycling and other practices decades before they were widely adopted in urban and suburban areas.
We saved cans and took them to an aluminum plant in McCook. We tied newspapers in bundles and took them to a place to be recycled. We collected rainwater in barrels. We composted food scraps. We burned cardboard and other combustible waste in a big, metal drum.
He rode his bicycle to a nearby drug store to pay utility bills because it saved stamps and gas. He grew vegetables in a garden. He seemed to think about the best way to deal with any situation before he acted. Sometimes you would see him looking at something and you could imagine what he was thinking.
“What should I do with this?” he might be saying to himself. “How can I use this?”
Those actions saved him a few bucks and improved his health in small ways. They also contributed to the betterment of the world. If many acted like him, there would be significantly less trash dumped into landfills or gasoline burned.
If he was here today and wore a pair of protective gloves while shopping at the grocery store, I guarantee he would not toss them on the ground. He was considerate of others and the planet.
Our parents grew up during the Great Depression and knew to appreciate the value of every dime to make it through times with little or no money. During World War II, Mom was a nurse and Dad flew B-17s over Italy. We, as a nation, helped the world defeat fascism because we rationed items and sacrificed our comfort for the greater good.
That level of commitment is what we need now, at every level. We all need to pull in the same direction. We need to call upon the patience of saints to help one another understand why every action is important. We’re fighting ignorance as much as a virus.
It would be easy to mock and ridicule those who don’t know any better. I recall my father once told me that during the war, nobody told ethnic jokes. His parents emigrated from Poland. People from Poland, Italy, Ireland and many other places knew what it was like to be the subject of ethnic jokes.
But during the war, you didn’t care about the heritage of the guy in the foxhole next to you. You wouldn’t dare risk offending a comrade who might risk his life to save yours.
So, Dad told me, the subjects of jokes became “morons.” The jokes still worked because ethnicity never mattered to the material, anyway. The jokes were about stupid people doing stupid things.
So, if you wear gloves, masks or other protective equipment, properly dispose of the items. Don’t be a moron.
“Thank you for sharing my rant,” Bob wrote.
Twitter @tedslowik1
