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I Cleaned My Hands long

Before It BeCaMe fasHIonaBle

BY KENT RADER,
KENT@KENTRADERSPEAKS.COM

I’m a high functioning obsessive-compulsive, not like those
nuts who can’t get out of the house because they’re constantly checking
the stove. I cleaned my hands long before it became fashionable.

I believe hand sanitizer is the greatest invention ever, but have you ever
read the ingredients? It’s 60% alcohol and 40% water, which, according
to Mom, were the same ingredients as Dad on New Year’s Eve.
I clean my hands more than the average person, but I have long
suspected this says more about the average person than it does me. The
COVID-19 pandemic has proven this to be true as so many Americans
find handwashing to be a new activity.

For the past 22 years as a keynote speaker and CLEAN comedian, I have
taken nearly 2,000 flights and I cleaned my tray table with a disinfectant
wipe on every one of those. My last flight was in early March and, after
cleaning my tray table, the woman sitting next to me asked if she could
have a disinfectant wipe to clean hers. After I gave her one, I pulled out
my hand sanitizer. She said, “Boy, you come prepared.”

I said, “I know, nobody ever talks about the positive aspects of OCD.”

When my wife, Twyla, and I were walking off the plane, I said, “I don’t
look so crazy now, do I?

The coronavirus is an unprecedented situation for all of us. It has caused
fear and uncertainty in our personal lives and businesses, but let’s not
forget to laugh. Laughter helps you reduce your stress, strengthens your
immune system, helps organizations build collaboration and retain
quality employees, and helps you prolong your career.

One of the best ways to bring more laughter into your life is to spend
time with people who make you laugh. Thankfully, humor travels more
than six feet.
Americans are being asked to stay home, sit on the sofa and watch
television. This is what my dad has dreamed about his entire life. Every
afternoon, when I call and ask what he’s doing, he says, “Watching TV
because I’m a patriot.”
He reminds me of his mom. My Grandma Rader was very funny, but not
particularly work brittle. She used to say hard work didn’t bother her,
she could sit and look at it all day.
Kent Rader is a keynote speaker and CLEAN comedian helping
people learn and experience how laughter matters in reducing One Sunday when I was 10 or 11, as Reverend Hargus began his sermon,
stress and building profitable organizations. You may view Kent’s he mentioned my name. Grandma Rader whispered to me, “This can’t
latest video at https://www.youtube.com, then search for comedi- end well for you.”
ankentrader and hear him daily on his flash briefing on Amazon
Alexa titled Laughter Matters at www.alexaguy.com/laughter. It is When Mom heard me laugh out loud in church, Grandma’s premonition
came true. “It’s like you’re Nostradamus.”
also available on iTunes, Google Home and Spotify. If you would
like a free DVD-CD of Kent’s CLEAN stand-up comedy, send your Hang out with those people who make you laugh. It will help reduce the
postal mailing address to kent@kentraderspeaks.com. fear and stress we are all experiencing with our uncertain future.

20 MRWA TODAY S WINTER 2021 Always remember to wash your hands, and laughter matters.