No, I don’t mean the holiday season–I mean cold and flu season. Oh, how I’d freaking LOVE to barricade myself in my warm, safe home with its pumpkin-scented candles and the general absence of wheezing and puking. But sadly we cannot live on off-brand “Crunchy Oat Squares” cereal alone, and someone has to venture out for the groceries.
So while I’m here, I have something to say to you…
Dear person with a contagious virus:
Hey, you. Yeah, you, the grown adult who just coughed in my face, wiped your drippy boogers with your hand and then touched everything. Meet me–the lucky recipient of whatever you happen to be infected with. I’m sorry you’re sick. Being sick sucks. I know you can’t always put life, work, or shopping on hold while you lie on the couch in a ratty bathrobe with tissues and Netflix.
But I just want to thank you for being so generous, and not only sharing your misery with me, but with everybody else in front of you and within five feet to the side of you. Did you notice? The lady behind me is a nurse. She may already be infected when she works in the NICU tomorrow. There’s also a small child a couple of feet away who could develop pneumonia from whatever you just spit everywhere. At the very least, he will reach previously unattainable levels of crabbiness with his family.
Then there’s me. No matter how careful I try to be, I have an immune system that is armed with squirt-guns and pea shooters, and it’s fighting a losing battle right now. Unless I buy a hazmat suit or continue to avoid breathing, my baby girl at home will probably catch your bug too, and–oh, it looks like we currently don’t have plans to spend the next two weeks in the seventh circle of hell.
So you still don’t see what the big deal is?
Let me tell you a story about a man who never got to meet his granddaughter.
My father-in-law was a hard-working guy who enjoyed time with his family and was looking forward to retirement. One day while he was working for a manufacturer, a visitor with walking pneumonia came by. This person unwittingly spread their illness around, instead of staying home or simply covering their cough. My father-in-law developed an infection from the exposure. It attacked him aggressively, progressing quickly, and he eventually fell into a coma from which he never awoke. He was only 54 years old.
The person who infected him that day likely went home, eventually recovered, and was not even aware of the grief they had just caused a whole family.
Good hygiene may prevent you from becoming ground zero for some major misery in your community, but it’s also a barrier between you and a serious illness. Bad habits can be deadly–and how do you know for sure what you have isn’t dangerous?
If you are ill and aren’t at home, here are three simple steps to avoid the spread of germs, mentioned by the CDC.
Step 1: Avoid close contact with others.
Step 2: Wash or sanitize your hands frequently (especially after covering your mouth or touching your face).
Step 3: Cover your cough whenever possible.
If you want to avoid getting sick again, do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth after handling anything in public use, like doorknobs and handles, gas pumps, and cash register buttons.
Don’t make the holidays uncomfortable or downright unsafe for people just trying to enjoy them. If you spread your bad luck around, it may just come right back to you when someone else is just as careless toward you.
So please, cover your cough and wash your hands. You might just save a life–even your own.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Mom
About the author: Veronica Carr is a no-nonsense mom and artist, living in the Midwest with her husband and young daughter. When she isn’t covering “taboo” topics on her Asperger’s parenting blog, The Puzzled Mom (or on her Facebook page), she can be found drawing, wiping drool off of things, and frantically scrawling down notes for her next post at 3 A.M.
