It’s not you, it’s the germs

Germs were an issue before my lung transplant; now they’re double...

Germs. I imagine them floating through the air, gravitating toward me because they know somehow that I’m immune-compromised. I picture them swirling around my face, getting sucked into my nostrils and pulled into my transplanted lungs, threatening my very existence. I’m pretty sure that’s also how it went when I had my lungs that were affected by cystic fibrosis (CF), which altered my life forever. I’ve been a germaphobe my entire life. Sanitizi…

It’s not you, it’s the germs

Younger siblings are often portrayed as reckless, scatterbrained and less put-together than their older siblings. Social science researchers have underpinned these portrayals with data, showing that younger siblings obtain, on average, slightly less education and earn slightly less in adulthood. The explanation for this has often been that firstborns get more attention and quality time from parents than their younger siblings, resulting in the l…