The Dracula sneeze

Do you do the Dracula sneeze? I found out recently that this is the term schoolkids came up with to describe the method of sneezing into the crook of your elbow, since it looks like the way Dracula covers up the lower half of his face with his cape. If you normally cover your mouth with your hand when you sneeze, you are likely to touch something in a public place (doorknob, grocery cart, etc.) before you have a chance to wash your hands, and then those germs will be there just waiting for the next unsuspecting person to come in contact with them.

I don't want to become germophobic, but I haven't been able to ignore all the people I see sneezing without doing anything to cover their mouth, or using their hand and then wiping it on their clothes (ewww!). If nothing is done to capture the sneeze, it's very easy to see the spray enter the air we all must breathe. These days, I'm also careful not to touch any common surfaces, and when I open a door during the winter months, I usually keep my gloves on until I'm inside.

And then there's that old hand washing thing. In the ladies' restroom at the Senior Center, a sign reminds me to wash my hands for 20 seconds, or the equivalent of one chorus of "Happy birthday." I find it easy to sing happy birthday to myself while washing to make sure I use the full time.

If we all did the Dracula sneeze, there would be a lot less flu passed from person to person. I'm not quite flexible enough to get my arm all the way up there without pushing the outside of my elbow with the other arm. I've gotten good at doing this, and I notice I'm a left-handed Dracula sneezer (always sneeze into the crook of my left elbow). Have YOU got any ideas of other ways to keep from catching a cold or the flu? I'd love to hear!
:-)