Germ Box from Baltimore
On my daily MARC train trip to Baltimore last Tuesday evening, I fell into a head-hanging, drooling sleep so deep I nearly missed my station. By the time I reached home, the fever was on, and I was deep into my worst flu bout since elementary school.
Like a good worker, I called in sick on Wednesday, Thursday, and again on Friday, to spare my coworkers from my germs. After six days, countless cups of ginger tea, a quarter bottle of Tylenol, and the second season of The Wire, I was back on the MARC Monday morning, hoping I wouldn’t spook my fellow commuters with a coughing fit.
I shouldn’t have worried. Although I did let out a few raspy coughs into my handkerchief, the final notes of my sickness were nothing compared to sniffling, sneezing, and full-on hacking of many other riders. A bearded man a few rows ahead of me coughed for so long, I feared he would pass out. The train car rang with sickness all the way to D.C.
It’s going to be a long, germy winter for commuters. Have the rules changed and it’s now all right to go to work with a serious cold or even the flu? If so, I propose we follow certain Asian countries where the polite person with a cold covers his mouth in public with a hospital mask. At least on the MARC train.
3 Responses to “Germ Box from Baltimore”
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October 23rd, 2007 at 5:10 pm
How apropos: Just like the Steve Earle song that closes out Season 2 of “The Wire,” you “Feel Alright” now.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Joe: very nice.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I had my hair blown around the other day by some old broad hacking all over the place. I hope the stiffness in back was just too much hair gel. And people complain about the young and their manners! With some luck her weaker immune system did not allow whatever she has to mutate into some kind of super virus. If it did, maybe one of the side effects could be super powers.
DC is special in that people dutifully trudge to work under any kind of sickness just to work at jobs that accomplish almost nothing. The ten years I have lived here, it’s been about 50/50 whether it was worth going to work on a good day, and it takes very little to tip the scale (lethargy, anyone?). I know these folks all have tons of sick and leave days heaped on them. Stay home, watch TV until your brain feels like it is turning into concrete!