Is it just me, or are those automatic dispensing hand sanitizers everywhere we turn our eyes…and generally empty?
Airports are full of these machines that are meant to keep our hands clean and reduce the spread of virus.
But it doesn’t help when they are empty…
Onboard, airlines have added hand sanitizing stations onboard, some manual, some automatic. Located outside of lavatories, these provide an additional layer of protection to passengers and flight attendants.
But it doesn’t help when they are empty…
Almost every hotel now has these at the front desk and by the elevators on each floor.
But it doesn’t help when they are empty…
And it’s not just hotels, airports and planes. My grocery store seems to think these hand sanitizing stations are simply decorations. I recently found two of them empty at my church…I hope no one was waiting for a miracle.
Yep, it’s like our new generation of ashtrays everywhere you turn your eyes, only ashtrays only had to be emptied, not filled up.
And they’re so permanent too, often bolted to walls or floors.
Clean hands are a powerful tool in fighting illness and disease and one thing the pandemic has taught me is to wash my hands longer and more frequently, always with soap.
But these eyesore automatic hand sanitizer dispensers may have been purchased with pure motives, but they are purely useless if not refilled.
I can picture the world a year from now, our landfills filled with masks and hand sanitizers as institutions ranging from airlines to hotels to coffee shops to community centers become too cheap too refill or repair them.
If you place your hand under a hand sanitizer, hear it buzz, and actually receive a squirt of hand sanitizer, go buy a Lotto ticket. It’s your lucky day.
Newsflash to a year and a half ago. Covid doesn’t live on surfaces…. No need for this toxic sanitizer garbage everywhere. No need for all that silly “high grade disinfectant” that these idiotic airlines are still promoting. Soap and water works just fine.
Hard to effectively wash your hands on a plane, it’s an acrobatic act in those tiny lavatories, not to mention the amount of door/handle touching needed to exit when done. I agree that hand washing is most important but it’s not a total solution when traveling
Amen to this. While it’s true that it’s generally a good idea to keep your hands clean and free of germs, it’s amazing to me that people are still obsessing over surfaces. The other day I boarded a flight from MIA to DCA and a first class passenger had a spray bottle and was aggressively spraying down his entire seat and surrounding area. The smell was pretty strong. He looked absolutely terrified to be on the plane.
For most of my flying life I’ve had the habit of using cleaning wipes to clean my tray table and other seat surfaces that I’ll touch. Those are rarely cleaned and travelers are disgusting; I clean more for that than for covid so please don’t judge me harshly
Hand hygiene was an issue before COVID.
There are other infectious organisms that can be on our hands.
I hate the ones you can’t see are empty so I attempt multiple times to get the auto sensor to work and end up standing there for 30 seconds like a dummy feeling judged by every anti vaxxer who walks by and stares me down.
Just refill the sanitizer!
Just wash your hands, like any well functioning member of society does. Its not everyone else’s job to provide people things to make them feel ‘safe’.
Many of the disinfectants used to ‘kill’ something that wasn’t living on surfaces were brutally strong and wildly unnecessary. Sort of like wearing a bandana over our faces….
What’s the point of washing hands, really?
OK, I know, laugh away but here’s the thing: You get off the flight and wash your hands and as you’re leaving…
Grab the door handle to exit. Now you’ve just touched the same surface as HUNDREDS of people that day have done. You probably made the germ situation WORSE!
There’s playing the old footsie game to try to get the door open and ballet dance your way out. Some doors now have little metal trays to help you pull them open. But it’s a lost cause: Washing your hands may be germophobe security theater.
I always used hand sanitizer way prior Covid because it is not easy to find soap and water all the time and you may need to clean your hands. Nothing changed with Covid since it is BS it transmits through surface so nothing really changed to me. Actually, depending on the place, I am skeptical to use hand sanitizer that is there for free since you don’t know the source. Search for methanol based hand sanitizers imported from Mexico. Not good.
Seriously just carry the small ones you can buy anywhere including Bath & Body works.
.. and I’m sure, whomever is responsible for filling those empty hand sanitizers, whether that be the airport authority or the brand itself, the continued excuse will be hey have staff shortages due to Covid…. blah blah… lol
@Matthew: Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt is closing. https://www.top-magazin-frankfurt.de/news/villa-kennedy-schliesst-rocco-forte-stellt-hotelbetrieb-in-frankfurt-ein/
I have a pocket sized Purell bottle in my car. I could carry it if flying but I have not flown on a flight since the early days of the pandemic.
Too Funny. I’m staying at Hilton Santa Clara and literally hotel personnel are fixing a station that isn’t working. I just showed them your article and they burst out in laughter and promising all their hand sanitizer stations are full.
Palmolive softens hands while you do dishes. You’re soaking in it. Advice from Madge. You can thank me later.
I thought for sure that when these stopped working, the pandemic would be over. Nope! 🙁
It’s not you…..
News flash – Covid is an airborne virus – no need for this goop. KN95’s and NIOSH-branded N95’s work just fine.
lots of times the sanitizer is full but the machines dont work. I have replaced batteries and refilled the dispensers numerous times and they just stop working. I think the machines get gummed up and cant pump anymore. The best dispensers are the ones you actual pump yourself.