In early February 2020, I flew from Zurich to Boston for about ten days. In Massachusetts, everyone was talking about the "novel coronavirus". When I flew back to Zurich on a night flights, I was of course groggy. Back then, I did not yet have Swiss citizenship. On an escalator right after I showed my US passport and my Swiss residence permit at passport control, I put my passport in my mouth so I could put my residence permit in my wallet. A man on the down escalator said, "You shouldn't hold your passport in your mouth; it might be infected!" I still remember that moment whenever I use a passport. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 3 October 2026)