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

[wildgreyocean]

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?!

I’ve been ill for 6 weeks and have had a chesty cough for 4 of those weeks, I’ve gone through two lots of antibiotics and only just starting to feel myself again. I stayed in when I was really rough with fever and chills but I couldn’t move anyway, once I got over that I’ve still had to leave the house to run kids to appointments, school, work, get any groceries we need/run out of.
I have gone out once for a coffee with my mum which really cheered me up as I’ve been miserable, I don’t know how I would react if someone shouted at me for coughing as I’m already at my wits end with it!

People are scared of catching flu. To be honest I was fuming at a woman who was following me around The Range in the week absolutely hacking her guts up. Didn’t matter what aisle I dived down shed reappear. Stay at bloody home.

Because I’m not! Nobody in my house has caught it. Use some common sense

People can be scared all they like. I don’t have the flu and I don’t need to moderate their anxiety.

I also work in school and at the start caught everything for maybe 5 years. Stomach bugs were the worst.

Now some things pass me by completely and others I get a mild version that and somethings I get badly.

Ive no idea if I walk about spreading stuff when I have no symptoms

Having a cough does not always mean someone is contagious with something.

I thought the advice was if you had a cough wear a mask which is sensible.

You seem very angry about this with all the name calling but didn’t you say she hadn’t been out since Covid hit
So presumably she was anxious. Wouldn't you get that a little more than others if you work for the nhs.

I would and I don’t

You wrote the post and got people’s views. You don’t like them obviously but you invited them and we would rather you didn’t go into enclosed public spaces when you are ill. Don’t care if it’s you or anyone else. If you are coughing and sitting somewhere you don’t need to sit then get a take away drink and go back outside.

You are inviting commentary though. During Covid it was the same. Anyone that coughed was assumed to have Covid and that went down like a sack of sick.

It’s not, and I don’t own a mask.

It was probably the change in temperature, moving from cold air to warm air.

I must admit I am a bit paranoid about people coughing around me because I have an immunosuppressed child. To a certain extent, life goes on when you have a virus and people need to do their shopping or whatever, but nobody NEEDS to sit in a confined space like a coffee shop coughing and spluttering.

I would never be out of the house at all if you had to stay home because if a cold.

As someone who is clinically vulnerable I would be distressed to hear your cough and would agree that you should be home recovering and protecting others.

This!
Saw a woman cough over the vegetables in the Waitrose, no attempt to cover her mouth at all.
He may have not seen you cover yours.

If you’re distressed by hearing people cough how do you function in society?

I wasn’t on MNet during Covid I can’t even begin to imagine the heated disagreements on here 😆 if this thread is anything to go by.

Rude old asshole. You can bet he wouldn't have shouted at a man like that.

The change in temperature from hot to cold and cold to hot makes my nose run and makes me sneeze, it's called vasomotor rhinitus and I'm not going to stay home because of it!

If you've got a fever and feel really unwell then stay at home, if you're just sneezing a bit or got a cough then of course you don't stay at home. People can pass things on without ever having any symptoms including covid and flu, so if you're terried of either of them them you need to stay away from everyone.

Some upsetting things to read here. I have a cough for at least a month (often two) each time that I'm ill. It's not feasible for me to wear a mask or avoid indoor spaces for such a large part of the year.

At the same time I wish people who were contagious would stay home where possible. Even a mild cold can put me at risk and shatter my quality of life.

I try not to make assumptions about the choices that others have made because I don't know their circumstances.

While I think Covid taught us about making choices if obviously unwell I think it also turned us into nutcases. You cannot just stop home/not work if you have a cold. Jesus, I have several a winter season, I'd never leave the house! OP clearly knows she didn't have a flu, she'd have been unable to function out of bed. Coughs can linger on as a post-viral thing for WEEKS and I have one myself at the moment.

The man in the cafe sounds like he has some of his own issues. If he's that worried then perhaps he should himself wear a mask for personal protection or not hang around in coffee shops in the middle of winter. If everyone in Britain who had a sniffle stayed at home, the whole economy would tank!

No, the advice is youre fine to carry on normal daily activities if you feel well enough to do so

How do people know if they're contagious or not? And why are you allowed to go out with a cold but not them?

There’s quite a lot of space in between ‘am I supposed to hide away from society’ and going in to a (probably packed) coffee shop 5 days before Christmas when you know you have a cold.

So the PP who coughs from having lung cancer should stay home forever so you can be less anxious?

You could avoid a coffee shop of course