Contributing author Alfredo Torres is an adjunct professor of communications at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA where he wrote his master’s thesis on the metaphoric representation of zombies in the films of George Romero.
How pop culture will get us all killed. (Part 3)
The new season of The Walking Dead is off and running, and the fourth season has kicked off with a bang! Not only with new characters and some nice plot twists, but also with some great zombie action. Of course, with each zombie encounter the show misses the opportunity to pass on information that can be put to actual use during a zombie apocalypse. Case in point; Bob and the crack head zombie.
During the scene in question, new character Bob is trapped under some store shelving that had fallen on him. While struggling to get out from underneath, he notices a zombie crawling toward him. As the zombie moves closer for what should be an easy meal, Bob reaches out in desperation and digs his fingers into the exposed cranial area of the ghoul, thereby disposing of the oncoming crawling death.
However, in dispatching of the zombie, Bob assured himself of instant infection. By jamming his unprotected fingers inside the zombie’s exposed brain, he possibly introduced infected fluids into his own bloodstream through any cuticle or possible cracks in his skin. The better action would have been to stick one of the broken wine bottles that had fallen close to him into the skull of the oncoming zombie.
Anyone who has worked with their hands understands what I am talking about. Manual labor (of which there will be plenty during the zombie apocalypse) does quite a number on the hands; creating cuts and cracks in the skin which will be an easy way to catch any number of infections, diseases and of course… the zombie virus itself. By sticking your unprotected hand into any part of a walking cadaver, you are essentially insuring some kind of infection; which cannot bode well in a world where antibiotics are in short supply.
When going out in a post-apocalyptic world, rubber gloves should always be worn underneath a set of leather gloves. The leather gloves will provide protection from the debris in which you will be forging, while the rubber gloves will prevent inflected fluids from entering the bloodstream.
Remember; “no glove, no love of yourself” should be the rule, regardless of where you are and who you are with!
