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The common cold

I get about three colds a year, and they come about when I least expect it, but the symptoms are always the same. The minute my throat feels slightly uncomfortable, I know in a few days time my nose will be flowing like a broken dam and I’ll need to find alternative ways to breathe. See I think it’s this unpredictability which annoys me most about the common cold, because it’s always the same and there is not a damn thing I can do about it. Sure there is plenty of medicine on the market, but it rarely does any good and I’m forced to just sit through 5 days of awkwardness.

With any other illness, even a mild headache, you’re bed ridden, but the cold doesn’t really put you out of action. It’s an ailement where you have to go to work or school because it never becomes that severe, yet it’s so annoying and distracting. I don’t mind the pain in my throat or having breathing issues, as I can keep that to myself, but the issues with my nose when I get a cold is a pain for me and everyone else in the area. You’re either forced to hang around the bathroom blowing your nose, or irritate your family and friends by making obnoxious sniffing noses in their vicinity. The trouble is, you can blow your nose all day, but the mucus will keep on coming in a steady stream. I mean of course I appreciate this function for protecting my body from further infection, but really…does it have to be so constant?

Also the cold makes you generally look and feel rubbish, and people are rarely sympathetic. The usual response to seeing someone with this illness is ‘oh you better not pass that on to me’. Because that’s just it…the cold is the gift that no one wants.

Ability to catch a cold at the worst possible time: 7 out of 7

Amount of business given to Kleenex: 7 out of 7

Rated: 0 out of 7