An unwritten law dictating that if a food or other consumable item is dropped onto the floor, it can be picked up and eaten within five seconds because dirt and germs take six seconds to transfer from one surface to another.

After 6 months of washing hands like a moron repeatedly, cleaning every surface in close proximity and sanitizing like a psychopath, this ‘rule’ sounds like a damn joke now. 

No, really! Out of all the things that this pandemic (and the lockdown) taught me, one thing is fairly clear now – NO BLOODY SURFACE IS CLEAN. 

Honestly, when my maid used to mop and clean those same floors and dust all my belongings, I never really noticed how quickly the dust settles on everything.  

And now when I mop the same floor literally 10 times a day, it still feels disgusting even though the only person who enters my room IS ME. 

Moreover, how can one even imagine picking up food from the floor and eating it? 

For god’s sake, people walk on that floor with the same shoes that might have walked on roads with spit (or shit) on it.   

Those shoes that might have dust and bacteria from all across the city.  

But hey, if you think this is me ‘overreacting’, then I’ll gladly slap some full-fledged research here. Studies have proved that your regular kitchen sink can have more bacteria than a local trash can. 

A fucking trash can!

Can you even imagine the number of bacteria you might be inducing in the name of your 5-second rule? And honestly, which freaking bacteria sits and thinks that    

Oh! let’s check on my watch if this person picks up her cookie before 5 seconds, I can only enter it then. We germs have our rules too, you know.  

So, maybe before this pandemic happened we were living in a world of denial and denying basic hygiene. But now that the only way of surviving is being hygienic, it’s time to say bye bye to these stupid rules.