And here's why you'll never catch some people riding the T without pants

Corrected title:

And here's why some people won't ride the T.

At first I thought it was a booger, but it's snot.

(Sorry. Works better out loud).

Also anyone who really avoids the T because of the germs is just making more room for me, so thank you. I've been riding the bus and subway everyday for years and I catch exactly one cold a year. If anything, being exposed to all these germs is turning my immune system into an unstoppable disease-fighting force. Have fun with your industrial-size Purel and hermetically sealed cars, but I'm going to continue to enjoy lots of happy and healthy "sick days" from work.

The only thing I avoid because of germs is children.

There have been a few studies of transmission of colds and influenza.

It snot what people are lead to believe. Most of it is through the air, not dirty telephones ... er ... doorknobs and such. In one study, one isolated sick person who was just coming down with the flu infected nearly an entire military transport flight during a multi-hour delay. One of the classic studies with a couple of groups of fraternity brothers had "cones of shame" while playing poker games so they couldn't touch their faces and they only got sick if they were sharing air with infected players. When infected group player cards and chips were transferred to the uninfected, non-shame-coned group, no infections.

Of course, you can get stomach viruses by touching surfaces and then eating or whatever. And, let's face it - this is fucking gross and the dude probably isn't covering his cough, either.