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?!

Commit to what? There’s no need for a mask mandate 😂

If you are unwell.

It’s not mandatory

No, I'm obviously not saying that.
A coffee shop is more intimate than many places though.

I would myself go to a coffee shop with a cold, but I would leave if I suddenly coughed a lot, but not if it was just once or twice. (Sorry you might have clarified this; I haven't read all the thread.)

As I say, I think that the man who shouted is by far the worst problem here.

The idea that we can't live with minor illnesses sometimes is mental, and I don't know where it's come from or why it's gaining so much traction. If you are ill and need to rest, society should facilitate that. If you have a virus but are fine to go about your daily business, society should also facilitate that. We have vaccines, we have masks, we're supposed to have good hygiene practices.

Also the OP didn't even have a cough. My daughter has a night-time cough currently caused by nasal drip or whatever it's called. She nose doesn't even run during the day, it's purely a night-time thing. If anyone thinks I'm keeping her her home they can think again.

Agree
but really the onus should be on the ill person AND the vulnerable

According to the nhs

This thread is a hoot. @wildgreyoceanyou have lured all the freaks back out from their lairs (where they should still be lurking if they’re genuinely that worried about getting ill).

I think just bad luck being at the coffee shop with someone who reacted like that old man. Everyone gets coughs and sneezes sometimes while out.

That man’s behaviour sounds inconsiderate, but nothing like what OP described.

Agree it is a hoot
I bet the Covid years on here were a real eye opener too

Really shocked

I have asthma and the cold makes me cough would that man be well within his rights to shout at me as well what about people with COPD? Unless you know someone’s medical history a cough can be caused by a lot of things and not all of them are contagious.

Have a dig into the past Covid threads. Some are mental.

Some really weird responses in this thread.

The common cold is unpleasant, but it really only causes nuisance symptoms and doesn't prevent people from working or going about their daily business. Isolation has never been a requirement for the common cold, and as far as I can remember, we've always been expected to carry on as normal.

The flu has been causing a lot of strain on the health service, but quite clearly, OP does not have the flu or her symptoms would have been more severe.

I am astonished that there are so many people who go into a full blown panic when they see someone with the common cold, and yet, no one ever seems to bat an eyelid at people (for example) idling their engine for no reason, which is far more harmful to society.

You asked for our opinion on whether you were being unreasonable, although you have already decided you were not.

Anyone who says you were, you are shooting down. So what was the point of the post if you just wanted validation? AIBU is not the place.

I get really annoyed when people come into the office coughing and spluttering when they can work from home without issue. Of course life goes on but I would be getting my coffee to take away and getting out of people's way if it were me.

If I end up catching something before Christmas I won't be able to visit my mum who is having cancer treatment and has a weakened immune system. So because people don't have common courtesy I am the one who has had to isolate at home and not go into the office, despite being well enough to do so (and missing out on social stuff as a result).

I remember before the pandemic I ended up having a cold before a long haul flight. I spent my entire two hours in the airport scouring every single shop for a face mask. No one stocked them. I ended up with my head under a hoody the entire flight.

So no the bloke didn't need to shout. Living is a health hazard.

But I'd at least be going out with a mask on if I was ill with something contagious. Especially if I had a particularly chewy cough. Maybe you've passed the contagious phase but other people won't know that. Then maybe you might avoid being shouted at.

Calm the fuck down Margaret.

OP clearly knows she didn't have a flu, she'd have been unable to function out of bed.

I keep seeing this nonsense and, although I know it won’t make a blind bit of difference, l’m going to say this is utter nonsense. Some people have very mild symptoms with the flu and others have no symptoms at all. You know to a reasonable degree of certainty that it’s the flu if you have a fever, the shivers, can’t get out of bed and are possibly even hallucinating. But you don’t know for certain that it ISN’T flu just because you can walk and talk. I’m not saying people shouldn’t go out with their mild symptoms of unknown origin, but they need to be aware that it isn’t necessarily a cold. That means being respectful and not coughing all over people in confined spaces.

Fortunately the laws are different now, re masks etc

Don’t be ridiculous. People can’t stay at home just because of a cold. Maybe if your that paranoid you should stay at home.

Actually her AIBU was about the man being unreasonable to shout at her, not BU about being out with a non-contagious cough.
If you voted YABU, you have voted that he was right to shout and spread his own germs and spittle over a woman sitting alone.

Given how accessible online grocery shopping is, there is little excuse to go into a supermarket if you're unwell with anything that could be contagious. It's just basic human decency. I had to go to Sainsburys late last night as we had a big family lunch today and I gave one aisle a wide berth completely thanks to the woman constantly coughing down there. It was the cheese aisle too, so very bloody annoying.

There are lots of reqaqsqons why people cough. Allergies cause me to cough - am i supposed to stay home?

Probably the idea of staying on the sofa with every mild cold.

It's an overreaction but maybe he is fearful if elderly. It's true that the NHS is on its knees and there's very little help available. Plus a lot of people are still traumatised by Covid. Maybe he feels vulnerable. I would forget about it OP.

To be fair the karma has got me, for being such an evil
vile person. I’ve got a bloody blister from the walk down there.

I can't believe some of the replies on here. Most jobs don't give you time off work for a normal cold/a slight cough. So you could be working all day, maybe with the public, but you're not allowed to go to a coffee shop on your break, or if you do you have to get takeaway?