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AIBU?

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Original poster

Just got shouted at in a coffee shop for coughing in public 🥴

894 replies

wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 15:47

I know I’m not being unreasonable here but I just need some reassurance! I was in a coffee shop after popping to the shops and got a tickle in my throat. I’ve had a cold all week but nothing too severe. I coughed and next thing I know an old man is shouting at me that I’m being selfish and should be self isolating at home, and “don’t I know the NHS is on its knees?!”

AIBU to think this is a total overreaction to a cough?!

OP posts:
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Original poster
wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:38

Calliopespa · 20/12/2025 17:37

Hilarious? The idea of a book, or the thought of an undertaker?

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The entire comment.

the old man is not going to an undertaker because of my post nasal drip.

OP posts:
Calliopespa · 20/12/2025 17:38

ChattyCatty25 · 20/12/2025 17:37

There’s a difference between hysterical COVID propaganda, and recklessly spreading viruses because you won’t take the slightest effort to be hygienic.

I rarely get ill, but when I do I wear a mask, and wash my hands whenever I’ve touched my face. It’s not hard and it’s selfish not to.

It’s nothing like forcing people to take experimental vaccines, or quarantine themselves for weeks.

This is the balanced view.

ChattyCatty25 · 20/12/2025 17:37

There’s a difference between hysterical COVID propaganda, and recklessly spreading viruses because you won’t take the slightest effort to be hygienic.

I rarely get ill, but when I do I wear a mask, and wash my hands whenever I’ve touched my face. It’s not hard and it’s selfish not to.

It’s nothing like forcing people to take experimental vaccines, or quarantine themselves for weeks.

Calliopespa · 20/12/2025 17:37

wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:36

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Hilarious? The idea of a book, or the thought of an undertaker?

Coffeeandbooks88 · 20/12/2025 17:37

LadyKenya · 20/12/2025 15:51

You sound like you are still harbouring a cold, and should stay at home.

For a small cold? Er no.

Original poster
wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:37

Calliopespa · 20/12/2025 17:36

Yes it was the going mad ( or whatever similar comment) that made me lose a bit of sympathy.

You actually wouldn't op. Try a good book.

Edited
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If I had stayed inside since last Saturday I absolutely would go insane.

OP posts:
Original poster
wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:36

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🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

OP posts:
Calliopespa · 20/12/2025 17:36

Buscobel · 20/12/2025 16:56

You said in your first post that you weren’t being unreasonable. Some people have agreed with you and some have disagreed. I think where I might be at odds with you, is when you said you’d go mad staying indoors. That doesn’t necessarily mean going into a stuffy warm confined space, where germs multiply.

Theres been so much talk of the flu variant this year, people are getting twitchy about it.

Yes it was the going mad ( or whatever similar comment) that made me lose a bit of sympathy.

You actually wouldn't op. Try a good book.

Jc2001 · 20/12/2025 17:36

LadyKenya · 20/12/2025 15:53

I would not dream of shouting at someone coughing, but the amount of Adults who seem incapable of covering their mouths, when they cough, or sneeze is something to behold.

She did cover her mouth 🙄

ThomasinaHardy · 20/12/2025 17:36

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starrynight009 · 20/12/2025 17:34

He should have given you an evil look and silently judged you...this is Britain after all.

Original poster
wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:33

This reply has been deleted

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I am coughing (which wasn’t actually part of my original cold), because of post nasal drip. My ENT consultant has confirmed this is due to my sinuses issues and will likely persist for the rest of my life.

OP posts:
XenoBitch · 20/12/2025 17:33

Shouting also spreads lots of droplets from your mouth. I bet the man didn't shout into his elbow.

ChattyCatty25 · 20/12/2025 17:33

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Megifer · 20/12/2025 17:33

muggart · 20/12/2025 17:30

well yes if you aren’t contagious then you absolutely aren’t at fault. and we shouldn’t assume a cough means someone is contagious so i agree with you on that.

it is very common for people to behave like this even when they are contagious though- and many of the people commenting are arguing that there’s nothing wrong with coughing and spluttering viruses in strangers faces just because they want to.

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No one has said or is arguing that coughing and spluttering in people's faces is ok. Why lie about that?

FastFood · 20/12/2025 17:32

It's winter, having a cold is normal, that's part of life, it's not a lethal disease it's a cold, and it's everywhere. You could all be shedding viruses right now without experiencing symptoms.

SheinIsShite · 20/12/2025 17:32

XenoBitch · 20/12/2025 17:28

The man didn't know why OP was coughing.
A PP upthread said she coughs a lot as she has metastatic lung cancer. Would the man be within his rights to give her both barrels for coughing too?

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According to those on this thread, he would.

FIL has COPD and coughs a lot because his lungs are fucked from a lifetime of smoking. (He's given up now but still coughs). I have the sort of asthma which comes on in very cold weather, the cold air makes me cough or sneeze, and going from a cold outside into a warm shop might make me cough/sneeze too.

People are just stupid. They lapped up the covid propaganda which really did spin the narrative that if you got sick it wasn't just one of those things, it was someone's FAULT and that Covid spread not just as viruses spread, but because people were being selfish.

Original poster
wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:31

muggart · 20/12/2025 17:30

well yes if you aren’t contagious then you absolutely aren’t at fault. and we shouldn’t assume a cough means someone is contagious so i agree with you on that.

it is very common for people to behave like this even when they are contagious though- and many of the people commenting are arguing that there’s nothing wrong with coughing and spluttering viruses in strangers faces just because they want to.

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Ironic, because you have berated me for purposefully spreading germs, so which is it?

OP posts:
vodkaredbullgirl · 20/12/2025 17:31

2020 is calling all the posters back.

Lostsoultrip · 20/12/2025 17:31

Whyhaveibeencutoutofmamsnot · 20/12/2025 17:25

I am not fussed about "this time of year" - in fact good time of year for children to get their illnesses as they are not at school and people are off work.

I have had a post cold cough for a week or two can be fine for hours then go into a shop or cafe and the change in air can trigger a coughing fit.

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You might not be fussed about it but you must see that millions of people are. A good example is my friend who has just found out it's her grandma's last Xmas. Pretty sure she's fussed about not being too ill to spend Xmas with her family this year.

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 20/12/2025 17:31

Mademoidame · 20/12/2025 16:43

I wouldn't have shouted at you but I do wish people who were sick would keep out of enclosed spaces. DH and I went to two events last weekend where there were people who were obviously sick. We have both been ill all week. I was diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday. Lucky you that you feel well enough to go out. Your cold could be a serious illness for someone else. Did we learn nothing from Covid?

I had a winter pneumonia 4 years on the trot and it was bloody awful every winter going out. I am generally fit and well too and not immuno compromised, just very bad luck.

It has made me really anxious about getting it again as I almost didn't survive the last bout.

I don't think it's unreasonable at all to be worried when you've already experienced something that could kill you. I wish more people would be understanding that their minor ailments can snowball for others. I don't think they should self isolate but I do think they should keep their trips to enclosed spaces brief and necessary when actively poorly. Sitting in a coffee shop is not a necessary trip, especially when take out coffees exist.

muggart · 20/12/2025 17:30

wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:09

many people happily go about infecting others for no reason other than “life doesn’t stop when you have a cold”

I don’t know how many more times I can explain that I am no longer actively unwell, but that due to a physical issue with my sinuses I get post viral coughs.

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well yes if you aren’t contagious then you absolutely aren’t at fault. and we shouldn’t assume a cough means someone is contagious so i agree with you on that.

it is very common for people to behave like this even when they are contagious though- and many of the people commenting are arguing that there’s nothing wrong with coughing and spluttering viruses in strangers faces just because they want to.

EasternStandard · 20/12/2025 17:29

Yanbu although the flu headlines have riled people up and this guy sounds overly stressed.

EchoedSilence · 20/12/2025 17:29

Even at the start of Covid you were allowed to go about your business after a 10 day isolation.

XenoBitch · 20/12/2025 17:29

wildgreyocean · 20/12/2025 17:27

It's like they've lost the ability to read.

My favourite one is the one who said my sinus issues are irrelevant and the fact I am coughing means I am contagious. I'll go tell my ENT consultant he was wrong then!

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Also that the YABU vote is about the man shouting, and not you being out.