I am in the middle of studying for the bar. It is obviously stressful, and I am aware that the stress is making me even more prone to irritation than usual. But today I was studying at a coffee shop, and the girl sitting next to me was hacking up a lung and loudly blowing her nose...repeatedly. She was clearly quite sick. And yet, here she was out in public instead of in bed, coughing and blowing away.WHY do sick people go out into public when they don't NEED to? This girl was with a friend and they were chit-chatting the whole time (quite loudly, but that's beside the point), so obviously she wasn't under some pressing deadline to get something done. So what gives? Last semester during finals the same thing happened...this girl was in the cafe at the law school reading a book, and she had the most horrific sounding cough. I could not figure out WHY was she in a crowded cafe??
Okay, maybe you have work to do. But you are in a CAFE...it is not quiet and there are many distractions. So study at home! Or if for some reason home is even more distracting and/or impossible to work in, then go somewhere less crowded. Otherwise, you're exposing everyone in your vicinity to your infectious germs. Not only is it distracting to have to hear these people coughing, sneezing, and blowing their nose incessantly, but it actually puts the rest of us at risk of getting sick. How unbelievably selfish is that? I understand if you have a final that you can't reschedule, or you can't miss a day of work, or you have a necessary appointment, or you need to go to a store for something...but studying in a crowded, busy place does not strike me as particularly necessary, given the risks to the innocent bystanders around you.
As a related note, I also don't understand the super-loud, honking nose blow. I can blow my nose quite effectively most of the time without sounding like a tortured goose. And if I can't, I excuse myself to the restroom. I believe that's what is known as common courteousy.
So in conclusion, if you are sick and you must be out in public because you will get fired or fail out of school or some other catastrophe will ensue, then you are exempt from these criticisms. But if you are sick and you could be home but you decided to come to a crowded place anyway and spread your disease...then shame on you, you big selfish jerk. You owe me a bottle of Nyquil.
1 comment:
On a related note, I know many people have to take mass transit, I'm definitely one. There is no alternative. I get it. However, when they are on a crowded train, next to you or in your vicinity, coughing and sneezing the entire trip, I feel so disgusting and gross. There needs to be a mandatory surgical mask law for these people, including those who want to go to cafes and cough/sneeze rather than drinking their herbal honey tea and reading Sartre at home. This would limit public sickness to times of absolute necessity, and is courteous to the rest of us who don't want to get your cold or herpes. Im not talking about a red "A" on your lapel, just common decency.
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