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Oh man. This is a sighting & self-sighting rolled into one. At the time I was both mortified & proud of how this played out, but now? Well, it's ended kinda how I expected so let's call this current feeling "resigned".
BG: Having lost 3 months of work in the last 2 years due to serious illnesses (including 6 straight weeks for pneumonia & bird flu), I have a very low tolerance for people who cough & splutter their germs around in confined spaces; I once threw a pack of tissues at a man who'd been sniffing & snorting for 15 minutes behind me on the train.
So, last week I had to ride the bus to meet a visitor from out of town. They were coming in by train & the station's way on the other side of London, so it was a long ride. I was getting on at the very start of the bus's route, so I picked a seat on the top at the front from which to enjoy the sights, and then pull out my iPhone so I can ignore the sights by playing games.
A third of the way through the journey, a gentleman who got on a few stops back & has sat across the aisle 4 rows behind me starts coughing in the most bizarre way; it was almost as if a dog was barking. I think perhaps it was an attempt to clear his throat, but he was making absolutely no effort to cover his mouth to contain the germs or noise.
After 3 or 4 of these sporadic woofs, everyone on the top deck is turning to stare at his ridiculous display. He starts to wipe his mouth after the coughs, but this just reinforces the fact he's spewing who-knows-what into our shared atmosphere... But his coughing still sounds (and looks) completely unnatural, so 10 minutes later I've reached the absolute limit of my feigned indifference & announce loudly, clearly, but as unthreateningly as I can manage: "are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?"
Finally he seems to realise that everyone is looking at him. He just shakes his head in reply, wipes his mouth one more time... And we never heard him bark again. He left the bus 15 minutes later, so it's not like he just held back a cough & left... it was so weird!
Anyway, I started making up little stories in my head about how I'd been present when Patient Zero started the apocalypse, then went back to playing games on my phone for the remainder of my journey across town.
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Guess who now feels as sick as a dog?
BG: Having lost 3 months of work in the last 2 years due to serious illnesses (including 6 straight weeks for pneumonia & bird flu), I have a very low tolerance for people who cough & splutter their germs around in confined spaces; I once threw a pack of tissues at a man who'd been sniffing & snorting for 15 minutes behind me on the train.
So, last week I had to ride the bus to meet a visitor from out of town. They were coming in by train & the station's way on the other side of London, so it was a long ride. I was getting on at the very start of the bus's route, so I picked a seat on the top at the front from which to enjoy the sights, and then pull out my iPhone so I can ignore the sights by playing games.
A third of the way through the journey, a gentleman who got on a few stops back & has sat across the aisle 4 rows behind me starts coughing in the most bizarre way; it was almost as if a dog was barking. I think perhaps it was an attempt to clear his throat, but he was making absolutely no effort to cover his mouth to contain the germs or noise.
After 3 or 4 of these sporadic woofs, everyone on the top deck is turning to stare at his ridiculous display. He starts to wipe his mouth after the coughs, but this just reinforces the fact he's spewing who-knows-what into our shared atmosphere... But his coughing still sounds (and looks) completely unnatural, so 10 minutes later I've reached the absolute limit of my feigned indifference & announce loudly, clearly, but as unthreateningly as I can manage: "are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?"
Finally he seems to realise that everyone is looking at him. He just shakes his head in reply, wipes his mouth one more time... And we never heard him bark again. He left the bus 15 minutes later, so it's not like he just held back a cough & left... it was so weird!
Anyway, I started making up little stories in my head about how I'd been present when Patient Zero started the apocalypse, then went back to playing games on my phone for the remainder of my journey across town.
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Guess who now feels as sick as a dog?
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