#34: Summer Colds

Three days. That's how long my wife and son battled their summer cold before my body finally succumbed. I thought I was in the clear. I thought that surely, after two days, if I didn't have it yet, I was going to avoid it.

Au contraire, mon ami.

I hate summer colds. They are the worst. They linger. The congestion. The pressure. The nose that won't stop running. The itchy, sore throat, the coughing, sneezing, aching.

What I hate most is not being able to sleep at night. And when I do finally fall asleep, I can only breathe through my mouth, so there's the snoring to contend with. And then you wake up with this awful taste in your mouth---did something crawl down my throat and die while I was sleeping? Yech!

And then there's the difficult decision: "Do I go to work or no?" If I call in sick, I better have a better excuse than a cold. It just sounds pathetic...wimpy.

"Oh, my lung collapsed"--now that's a legitimate excuse to call in sick! But a cold? C'mon! But then, if you DO go into work...just cough out loud once...and someone's bound to say it:

"What are you doing here? You're going to get us all sick!"

"Sorry. I was holding out to see if my lung would collapse."

Ugh.

Let's be honest: Everyone gets sick from time to time. And while I'm no germ freak, I certainly would prefer someone with a cold stay home. I'm not impressed by those people who say "I worked 20 years and never called in sick once." Yeah, well...how many people did you infect everytime you came to work with a cold? Do us all a favor and stay home...at least until you're past the contagious stage.

Summer Colds: You Suck.