Would you meet a friend with a cold?

[ohholynightt]

I'm meant to be meeting my friend tomorrow for food and present exchange before Christmas
I have a stinking cold
Headache,sore throat and starting to sneeze
Now I'm just getting on with things but she has two kids
One is only 4
It's Christmas in a week
Although I would love to see her I really don't want to give her this cold
What would you do ?

Stay home. Why would you want to socialise anyway feeling so ropey?

I wouldn't meet her - or I'd at least offer not to meet her for the sake of not giving her your germs. You could offer to drop off gifts at her house maybe if that's convenient?

At that level of misery I'd probably just reschedule and your friend will most likely be grateful. If it's a slight sniffle I would go.

Give her a ring and let her know how you are. Ask her if she would like to postpone meeting until the new year- or if you feel up to it you could channel covid lock down and suggest you meet outside!

Tell her you're feeling rotten and have a stinking cold and don't want to give it to her. Exchange presents if you can do so easily, but no, I would not want to see someone the week before Christmas whose got a stinking cold! Do you live near each other? If not, post the gifts and rearrange your catch up for after Christmas.

I would tell her and give her the option

Absolutely not.
For the sake of exchanging a present, would you really like to add passing along a stinking cold , or worse, on to your friend, and her family, and as a 'bonus', right before Xmas?

Please stay home , feel better soon, and know you've done the decent thing:.
That's the best present you could give your friend and her family!

Give her the choice. I personally wouldn't but others might.

She's lives around 10 mins drive so I could drive and drop her gifts off or the other way around.

I would let her know and let her make up her mind.

Often when I do this they say "Oh don't even worry about it, I have a stinking cold already" and we meet as planned.

No get yourself better - you maybe better for Christmas but if you give it to her she may not be ! Why risk it ?

Of course I would! She could just as easily catch a cold on the bus or in a shop. Friendship is more important than a few sniffles..... I can't believe people would be so flaky.

I would tell her you are too unwell to meet and arrange another time to drop off presents. I was meant to be meeting a friend at the weekend and was really looking forward to a catch up as I haven't seen her in 6 months. She messaged the day before saying she had a stinking cold and could we rearrange. Totally fine by me, I really don't want any germs being passed on this close to Christmas and I'm sure your friend would feel the same.

sit outside a coffee shop or go for a walk? Delay a few days?

No! I have had an awful cold for the past almost two weeks. If you have the one I have then they will be poorly over Christmas. I had to cancel a family meal with a family member visiting from overseas so I didn't give it to everyone. It sucks but pretty standard for this time of year.

If you feel up to it and have made her aware, surely it's up to your friend to decide if she wants to risk it.

Give her the option to decide - if she's got a 4 year old she's probably been exposed to absolutely everything already and not care. But she might feel otherwise

Sounds horrible, no way would I be meeting up with someone just before Christmas to potentially give them what could be covid. I was wiped out for a week with it recently and it would have completely ruined Christmas if I'd had it then. A banging head and a throat like razor blades were the two symptoms I had with covid that I don't get normally with a sniffle/cold.

I would let her make the decision. This is what we do amongst our friendship group with no hard feelings on either side whatever the decision.

I personally do anything I can to either avoid catching or passing on any virus. Once I talk to someone who sounds like they have a cold, I give them a wide berth. Last Boxing Day we visited family who were all full of cold, didn’t mention before we went, they were clearly ill, we stayed in one room, they stayed in another. Got home to texts that they all had Covid, one ended up in hospital 2 days later.

Why would you potentially ruin your friend’s Christmas?! Of course cancel it, no brainer.

I would give her the choice and offer to just exchange on doorstop if she prefers. Some people are less bothered than others about germs.

A sniffle, yes. A heavy cold, no. We had a Xmas completely ruined because a relative let us visit when she had a cold with sore throat, cough, headache, temperature without telling us. We all got it just in time for Xmas. The kids were up all night on Xmas eve coughing and we ended up having to take them to the out of hours doctor on Boxing Day as the cold had lead to a chest and ear infection.

Give her the choice so she doesn’t hate you! 😉

The cold I’m getting over at the moment is, not to put too fine a point on it, absolutely fucking grim. If you have this don’t go and meet her! If you really need to then go for a walk at a NT property or something.
Also, I hope you haven’t got this - it’s rife here in the West Midlands and people are really struggling. Lots of time off work and really unwell. Look after yourself.

No l wouldn’t.