Twenty-four: Listen to Your Mother

I'm heading into a public transit theme here, I suspect…

Earlier this week, I was standing on the bus near the back doors — you know, the ones you are supposed to use to exit, rather than fighting your way to the front — and the man in the forward-facing double seat AND his child both had coughs.

Did they cover their mouths when they coughed? Oh no. How better to demonstrate your concern for your fellow humans than to cough openly on a crowded bus. And directly onto the guy with no immune system to boot!

Now I am exaggerating a bit. I do not wear a sign indicating that my immune system is compromised (not entirely absent), and the man may have turned his head a bit to cough directly onto someone else. His example to his child, however, was quite clear and the uptake was swift and efficient. Cough, cough, cough. No attempt to cover the mouth or to engage in what we are now urged to do: coughing into our elbows.

Nope, just get those germs out there and spread them as widely as possible.