Cover please

Last week, my husband and I were flying back from a trip to North Carolina. It was a perfect fall weekend - sweaters and jeans, a coat at night. We had some great meals with our friends and attended a football game. Settling into the long flight home, I opened my iPad and looked for the book I was reading. I was soon engrossed in the story.

Halfway through the flight, I leaned over to grab a snack from my bag under my seat. As anyone knows, this is always tricky. You have to twist and turn to reach under that seat these days, especially if the person in front of you is reclined. As I twisted my face towards the window and stretched my arm down, the person behind me sneezed. I was hit with the full force blow of his sneeze on the left side of my face. Seriously, it rippled my hair. I turned around to see an older gentleman (in a suit) with his head down, wiping his nose.

I was in complete shock. So much so, that I didn’t say anything to him (which is very unlike me).

Fast forward a few days. I wake up with a stuffy head, runny nose, and achy body. However, my head was clear enough to immediately target who most likely got me sick! When my husband asked me what was wrong, I said, “that man on the plane who sneezed all over my face is what’s wrong!”

He smiled at me, grabbed a box of tissues, brought me some juice, handed me the TV remote and took our daughter out to play. “Mommy is staying home today,” I heard him say on the way out. “And we don’t want to be anywhere near her and her germs.”

Flu and cold season is here people. Do your part to protect yourself and others. It’s fairly simple to stop the spread of germs:

• ·         Wash your hands and use alcohol-based sanitizer.
• ·         Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• ·         Sanitize your surroundings.
• ·         If you are sick, stay home.
• ·         Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• ·         Get a flu shot.

And most importantly (at least at the time for me):

• ·         Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow.

All of these are pretty much common sense tips. At least I thought so. My four-year old daughter coughs and sneezes into her elbow (or sometimes mine – but she’s only four).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a lot of information online about the flu. So does your doctor’s office and the Department of Health Services.