To Cough or Not to Cough
If you ever want to see what it feels like to be a pariah, I have the perfect experience: sneeze or cough in a crowded area. I have never seen so many dirty looks flung towards the offender or witnessed so many other subtle acts of condemnation. You would think we were facing the bubonic plague…
Lest you think I am above such judgments, I must confess I can be right there with the masses. If I see someone sneeze or cough into their hand instead of the crook of their arm, I cringe and make a mental note to avoid them and make a dash to the closest bathroom to wash my hands. The audience at the local play I attended this weekend seemed like a walking petrie dish. Every time I heard a child cough I did a virtual headshake as if to say to the parents, “How could you take them out?!” and was clutching the hand sanitizer nestled in my purse.
All this flu-fear hysteria is a good reminder to me to be aware of my surroundings and to practice good hygiene. It is also a reminder not to judge, lest you be judged.
A couple weeks ago I accompanied my fiance to the barber shop to get a haircut. He had developed a sneeze that morning – nothing too serious, just a bit annoying. But I do believe that the record speed at which he received a haircut had not so much to do with the barber trying to break his record for speed cutting, as much as he just wanted us OUT OF THERE! It was a very degrading feeling to be shuttled aside and so obviously dismissed. Clearly “our kind” was not wanted there!
This advanced state of health alert has also served to bring forward some old “Mommy guilt”. I confess to being the type of mom who would shuttle kids off to school who were clearly questionable, using the old “you don’t have a fever” test as my justification. Receiving the dreaded call from the school nurse to come pick them up solidified my guilty feelings. Today I had the discussion with my daughter as to whether or not to go. Interestingly it was her who wanted to go despite her apparent cold. “Well, you don’t have a fever…” was all I could say.
I’m praying the phone doesn’t ring…
Tags: coughing, flu, judgment, Mommy guilt, sneezing