7:05 a.m.
Get out of bed, brush teeth, gargle with Listerine. Wonder if the latter is really necessary, but killing 99 percent of germs can't hurt. Get dressed. Consider taking allergy pill, decide to wait and see.
7:45 a.m.
Place bowl of cereal in front of 2-year-old son. Watch son promptly fling spoon onto floor, where dog licks it enthusiastically. Son reclaims spoon, puts it back in bowl. Grab spoon and bowl, throw out cereal, get clean bowl and spoon, start again. Comfort screaming son and barking dog. Son stops screaming, starts coughing. Remember that son needs one more vaccination before summer. Dog stops barking, starts scratching. Remember that dog needs flea treatment.
8:45 a.m.
Edge away from sniffling commuter on subway. Use end of sleeve to hold rail. Read newspaper about potential threat of bird flu.
10:00 a.m.
Use antibacterial wipes at work on telephone and desk. Listen to coworker's complaints about hay fever, and reconsider allergy pill.
NOON
Go to new sushi place downtown for lunch. Make sure that the fish looks really, really fresh. Avoid dipping into communal bowl of hot sauce.
3:00 p.m.
Read long email from sister about perils of Internet dating. Latest complaint is that a guy who seemed great on the Web just doesn't smell right. It's not body odor, it's…. well, she can't explain it. Sigh; wish sister would stop being so picky. Own husband was an athlete, is starting to develop paunch and has high cholesterol and blood sugar that's edging closer to diabetes. Think about what to have for dinner that he and son will eat.
5:15 p.m.
Repeat subway vigilance, with fellow commuter now actually spitting into tissue, which then goes onto floor. Recoil. Wash hands with antibacterial soap at return home. Contemplate dinner.
6:40 p.m.
Serve fish, though mercury is a concern. At least it won't have mad cow. Or bird flu. Husband is fine, but son won't eat fish, although it is white, his dietary color of choice. Worry that he will enter adulthood still refusing all foods besides pasta.
10:00 p.m.
Watch news about AIDS in women of South Africa. Wonder how cousin's friend, who is HIV-positive and has been on multi-drug cocktail for three years, is doing. Sneeze twice. Tomorrow, an allergy pill. Definitely.
Marlene Zuk is a professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside, specializing in evolutionary biology. Excerpted by permission from her new book, which asks whether our obsession with cleanliness is actually making us sicker. Riddled with Life — Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex, and the Parasites That Make Us Who We Are, published by Harcourt Books, also examines the role of disease and its intrinsic role in our lives, and how it influences everything from the evolution of the two sexes, to our personalities, to how we choose a mate.
