I hate getting on a packed bus. Not only is every seat taken, I’m prone to spilling my coffee at every turn — and more importantly I have to grasp one of the germ-laden poles.

 

I ride the bus every day, and I see students cough into the same hand that holds a bus pole I’m about to wrap my fingers around. I think you get the picture. 

 

During the winter, many people wear gloves, which sounds like the solution to disrupting the transfer of pole-related illness (unless you use your gloves as a means to smear a runny nose). But according to the Center for Disease Control, January and February are the peak months for the flu. Be on the lookout for more sneezing and coughing, as well as opportunities for airborne virus-sharing during your ride to campus.

 

Although the constant flow of riders prevents bus drivers from regularly spraying the air with Lysol, it would be beneficial for every bus to be equipped with hand sanitizer that riders can easily access when exiting. I may not be able to coat my lungs with cold repellant, but I’d at least have hands slathered with something that can fend off a virus or two.

 

Not all Syracuse University students agree with me. Darlene Clarke, an undeclared sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and a regular bus rider, said even if the Centro buses provided hand sanitizer, she wouldn’t use it. 

 

‘I think if there were hand sanitizer on the bus, I would question if it’s clean, safe to use and how often the bus drivers change the sanitizer containers,’ she said.

 

The freshness of the containers could be questionable over time, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take if the gel inside will ward off potential sickness. Experts at the University of Nottingham in England recently found that those who use public transportation are six times more likely to get sick. 

 

With the pressures of academic deadlines and extracurricular commitments, taking a sick day can mean getting behind on multiple obligations. A recent study by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found that 66 percent of Americans carry on with their daily routine knowing they have early flu symptoms. It wouldn’t surprise me if the percentage of sick SU students who attend class were even higher.

 

The same study found that 59 percent of people felt frustrated by sick people who put others at risk by not staying home. I admit it: I’ve gone to class with the sniffles plenty of times. But when a congested classmate sneezes into his or her hand and then passes me the attendance sign-in sheet, I get annoyed. You won’t be getting a ‘bless you’ for that, Sicko.

 

I could carry some hand sanitizer around in my backpack. And the line of those waiting to get off the bus would move slightly slower if people were pausing to get a squirt of hand sanitizer. But you know what? It would take me longer to reach into my backpack than to reach out to an accessible dispenser. And I like the sanitary feeling of rubbing antiseptic between my fingers. Better to be late for class today than miss it tomorrow because you’re sick.

 

Alicia Smith is a graduate student in the magazine, newspaper and online journalism program in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her column appears every Thursday, and she can be reached at acsmit05@syr.edu.