The Swine Flu had more of an impact this June and July in Brazil than it did in the United States. Schools closed up for weeks to prevent the spread; and even now, when the threat has died back, everyone carries everywhere a little bottle of hand-sanitizer, clear gel in a small clear bottle. Sometimes for the sake of conversation they will swap bottles and invite one another to compare the smells: like offering around your snuffbox, I suppose.
In Brazil there is also a kind of artificial dieter’s sweetener. It comes in liquid form, clear liquid in a small clear bottle.
No actual mishaps resulted that I saw, but I did double-take when I saw an acquaintance hand-sanitizing his coffee.
