Ritual
Disinfecting Routine

Moe and Gene Austin
Cockeysville, Maryland
2020

Informant Data:
Moe and Gene Austin are an older, Native American couple who live in Cockeysville, Maryland with their two dogs. As a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, concerns of infection are high, and the worry that one of them might bring the infection into the house without knowing it is one of their greatest concerns. Moe is a nurse at the local hospital and Gene is a retired electrical engineer who still works on houses. Both of these jobs require that they leave the house almost every day which further increases their concerns.

Contextual Data:
Despite the stay-at-home orders in their state and social distancing requirements, the Austins must still leave the house and be in contact with many different people as a result of their professions. Especially with their contact with others, there is a great concern about bringing home the virus. Both Moe and Gene are in the age group that is most susceptible to the virus, so they are making sure they are fully disinfected while at home.

Item:
For people of our age group, the COVID-19 pandemic is not something that we can afford to take lightly. We worry a lot about bringing the virus home and infecting each other or the dogs now that dogs have tested positive for coronavirus. Whenever we go out, whether it’s for work or just something like shopping, we make sure that we, and all of our belongings, are disinfected to the best of our ability before interacting with each other or the dogs. Each time we get home, we go straight to the basement and expose our clothes and all of our other stuff like purses or groceries to UV light to thoroughly disinfect them and to put our minds at ease about bringing the virus into our home.

Isaac Hanover, 20
533 Homestead Drive
Lima, Ohio, 45807
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Spring 2020