After going to the movies to see “Contagion,” I didn’t particularly feel like having dinner.  Germs everywhere!  Hell, the film had me wondering why humans should even bother breathing.  But Chloe and her friend were with me, and they were famished.  The movie didn’t affect them nearly as much as it affected me.  But then again, they’re only 10 years old.  As for me, the image of a dead woman having her scalp peeled back during an autopsy is not one I’ll soon forget.

By popular vote, we decided to go to a diner for dinner.  Chloe predictably ordered chocolate chip pancakes.  Her friend chose the more dinner-appropriate dish of chicken parmigiana.  Chloe was in heaven.  Because it’s ‘awesome’ (boy, is that word overused in my family!) to eat breakfast for dinner.  Once she had filled her belly with as much breakfast as she could muster, she helped her friend make inroads with her side of pasta.

That combination gave me renewed cause to feel nauseous.  And their sharing got me thinking about germs all over again.  Germs in pancakes and pasta.  Germs on forks and knives, and paper napkins.  Germs on seats.  I am sure the makers of Purell are celebrating with champagne right about now.  Their sales are going to spike, for sure.