January 09, 2009
Sick? Stay the hell away from the rest of us!
I went to CVS (aka the late, lamented SavOn Drug Store) the other day to see if my doctor had called in a prescription. As I walked toward the pharmacy, located in the back of the store, I heard wet, wracking coughs, punctuated by hiccups and moaning. Bear in mind that I must have been 50 yards away from the sputum-spewing sickie when I first heard her near-death rattles.
As I got closer to the in-take window at the pharmacy counter my normally brisk pace slowed, while my fear of contagion rose. Standing at the counter next to where I was heading was an enormous, sweat-soaked woman, taking deep, wheezing, shuddering, phlegmy breaths, crying in distress as her tattooed and pierced boyfriend spoke with the pharmacy tech.
The woman reared back and started coughing again, gut-wrenching paroxysms, so intense they triggered more hiccups and snorts.
I swear, as God is my witness, there was a fine mist of saliva and aerosolized snot hanging in the air, like a pestilential fog bank.
I felt bad for the woman, who was clearly sick as a dog, but my sympathy was overwhelmed by my rage at her monumental stupidity and selfishness, as she exposed everyone in the store to the bug that was clearly wreaking havoc on her respiratory tract.
There was no reason why she couldn't have waited in the car while her boyfriend picked up the meds, reducing the risk of contagion to the children and elderly people waiting in line, as well as cranky, middle-aged attorneys.
I grimly spoke with the pharmacy tech, trying to breath as little as possible and moving away from the counter -- and the human petri dish to my right -- whenever possible. Concluding my business as soon as I could, I practically flew out of the store.
When I was in Japan in the early 1980s, I was surprised to see people wearing surgical masks out in public. I subsequently learned that it was common, when ill, to wear them as a means of protecting the healthy from whatever bugs might be lurking in Typhoid Tojo's vicinity.
Americans, on the other hand, seem to have an aversion to keeping their contagious diseases to themselves, ranging from refusing to stay home when ill, to preventing their children from being vaccinated.
Today I awoke with a sore throat and a cough.
What a surprise.
I hate that woman.
Posted by Mike Lief at January 9, 2009 09:50 AM
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Comments
This makes me insane! I'm constantly seeing people coughing and sneezing without bothering to cover their noses and/or mouths. I was on a bus a few weeks ago and an older woman just started sneezing and didn't do anything to cover her face. I was so disgusted I couldn't even bring myself to say anything. My old job/office was a breeding ground for everything as well because instead of my ex Co-Workers staying home when they were sick, they insisted on coming into work thinking that they were being good little workers when the only thing they were doing was infecting everyone in the office! I used to always get mad and tell the sicko that he/she should have stayed home so that none of us would get sick! I have no problem wearing a surgical mask if I'm sick but unfortunately most people in our country are too ignorant or inconsiderate to worry about anyone else aside from themselves. And this whole no vaccination trend for babies and young children? Well that's just asinine altogether!
Posted by: April Lief at January 9, 2009 11:50 AM
I draw a line on the floor of my classroom this time of year. No student may pass the line. Boxes of tissues are at the back of the room (as far from me as possible). First sign of sniffles and off to the nurse they go.
Posted by: Brent Smiley at January 9, 2009 05:25 PM