Dirt could be good for you

In the morning I often wake up before boyfriend T. Although I don't want to disturb his sleep, once I'm awake I usually can't resist giving him a cuddle for a few minutes :-). After that I'll often get up, and check emails or write blog posts before getting ready for work.

A few days ago, I'm in my study as usual when boyfriend T gets up, but almost immediately he comes into my study looking terrible.

"I don't feel well :-(," he starts, with a croaky voice.

"Awww, what's the matter?" I ask, jumping up to put my arm round him.

"My throat feels very sore, and I've got a slightly runny nose :-(."

"Open your mouth," I say, trying to sound knowledgeable, "let me have a look."

Boyfriend T duly obliges so I peer into his mouth to see if I can see anything. However, the truth is that since I'm not a doctor, I don't really know what to look for! None the less, whenever I feel ill and someone offers to try and diagnose the problem, it always makes me feel a bit better because a problem shared is a problem halved :-).

"When did the symptoms first start?" I ask, continuing my doctor act.

"I didn't feel that good last night," he answers, "but it seems to have gotten much worse overnight :-(."

"Actually," he continues, "I often get this kind of thing at this time of year."

"Well in that case you need antihistamines :-)," I say authoritatively, "it must be an allergy to pollen or something like that!"

Boyfriend T nods, saying that he's got an old supply of antihistamines somewhere, and soon I'm telling him that if he doesn't feel well enough to go to work then the best thing would be to stay at home for the day.

Later, I find myself thinking about my underwear. A few days previously, boyfriend T had insisted that our underwear should be washed separately, because he didn't want underwear that I might have worn for more than one day to be washed with his!

Although boyfriend T's standards of cleanliness are highly impressive, I suddenly recall reading a news article a few years ago which suggested that too much cleanliness isn't necessarily a good thing. Thanks to google, I manage to dig up a version of the story on the BBC news web site:

Dirt could be good for you

Immediately I send the link to boyfriend T, with the suggestion that perhaps it's not good to change one's underwear every day! Although his reply points out that my argument is flawed because we're not children any more, none the less it's a fascinating piece of evidence.

So, I'm now wondering how many of my readers who insisted that underwear must be changed daily suffer from allergies? If anyone has any thoughts on this subject then please let me know :-).