It was bound to happen. I was standing in line at the check out and the person in front of me sneezed and coughed. The person behind me did the same. And who knows who or what had been pushing the shopping cart. (Good reason to shop on line.)
I knew it is just a matter of time before I experience the dreaded symptoms; a runny nose, a scratchy throat, the watery eyes. But maybe if I hurry, I might avoid falling victim the “common cold'.
By definition, the common cold is a respiratory infection, generally caused by a virus. Its symptoms are the runny nose, watery eyes and often a cough and a headache. According to advertisements on television, the difficulty in breathing is the result of clogged or swollen nasal passages. Wow! I didn't know that! Sniff, sniff.
I ask some friends how to prevent getting a cold and they share some great family and time tested suggestions. Near the top of the list is to avoid going out in public. Just stay home. Makes sense, but at some time I have to leave the house to go to work or go to the store.
Suspecting that a cold might be coming I opted to take some precautionary measure. Airborne is a popular product. Rumor has it that it was designed by a teacher. Now what do teachers know about germs? What runny noses in classroom?
Another suggestion by a friend is to keep the nasal passages clear of debris. Yes, picking your nose. But if you choose this method of prevention, you may wish to consider using a tissue. By the way, the person with this suggestion just came down with the flu.
Of course there are the endless doses of Vitamin C, to the point where you turn into a and orange or grapefruit or a glass of juice.
Most likely, unless one lives in a cave or in a far place, you probably have already been exposed to the germs. So now what?
Echinacea might be something to consider. Or maybe a shot of whiskey and lemonade, or, just the whiskey. Grandma used to cut four onions per day to avoid a cold during the winter. We could never tell if she ever suffered from a cold because she was always crying.
One of my favorites is the 'sweaty socks' method. Wet, stinky, sweaty socks tied around your neck is said to keep colds away. I guess as long as you can smell the socks, you know you don't have a cold.
So the attempts to keep the cold away were unsuccessful. My eyes began to tear, the nose was congested, and a pounding headache were signs that I am in for several days of discomfort. What to do ?
There are shelves full of cold remedies at the local pharmacy, all designed to lessen the discomfort. But the truth is that even with the cold remedies I was in for three or four days of a runny nose, restless nights and the deep voice of a baritone.
Suggestion! Tough it out and save my money. A box of tissues, some of mom's good old chicken soup and an aspirin several times a day for the headache will lead to the same result as all the cold medications. OK. A shot of whiskey every now and then too.
So I guess I'll curl up in a warm blanket with a good book and hope to be back to normal in a few short days.
Can someone please pass me the tissues?
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