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?!

Really?

Some of these replys are ridiculous 🤣 you would think op is spreading the plague!

What an apt username 😂

A cough isn't a reason to stay at home. The nation would quite literally collapse if we all did that.

Maybe she should wear an amulet. We can have an ad campaign telling everyone they work. Then it will make tpeoplehem feel better while doing nothing. But less unpleasant and gross than a mask.

Maybe the man in the OP could wear a sign saying he is an aggressive knob and will shout at you if you cough.

How did you respond to the old man? Did anyone else in the cafe (owners/other customers/staff) say anything.

I think the reactions of those there are a far better gauge of who was unreasonable than a poll here.

Ha a few pp too

I just sort of smiled awkwardly because what do you say? Nobody else said anything, I think they were all a bit stunned.

I blame the boat people. At least we've had no Spanish flu since Brexit.

Fair enough if I’d said “I tested positive for Covid yesterday” but it’s a bloody cold!

And not 2020

Yes really. It was a genuine question because I thought that she meant her actual elbow. Now that it's been explained to me that she was talking about the inside of her elbow I can understand how it could be possible.
I still can't even touch the inside of my elbow with my lips though 😔

lol, true. I’ve ordered a test from Amazon just to be 1000000% sure as I have a lot of events coming up next week. But they’re so expensive now!

Well we have a decent sized garden, so yes, I would actually be fine, however in a different circumstance I'd go to the park, but could manage easily without coffee shops.

No, but if you have symptoms it would be thoughtful to at least wear a decent facemask when around others in public places. A mild cold to you could be more serious to someone else.

I’ve been out and about the last two days and the number of people I’ve heard/seen coughing is large! Tis the season tra la la

If someone is worried about getting flu from being in a coffee shop, then they should be the ones not going there.

Why assume it’s health anxiety if someone doesn’t want to catch something and get ill? Especially this near Christmas.

If you don't want to catch something, then avoid crowded places.

You’re better than me, I would’ve put him
firmly in his place!

I’m asthmatic and I get every cough, cold and bug around and it lasts for weeks- by your logic I should stay at home for 1/3 of my life? That wouldn’t really work.

Don't be so ridiculous. When I get a cold it lasts two to three weeks. It simply isn't possible for people to confine themselves to their home for just a cold.

If people are so concerned about catching colds then maybe they should stay at home. The rest of us have to get on with life.

I got snarled at for sneezing by a woman with a pushchair in Wilkos earlier today - she called me selfish and sort of shielded the baby with her body. I’d just eaten a sandwich with pepper in it and I think that was what made me sneeze; I’m definitely not ill.

I just smiled and explained that I didn’t have any infectious diseases. I think some people are still a bit twitchy after Covid, it didn’t affect me too badly but some people really suffered, both from the illness and the lockdowns.

good point.

given a straight up choice between forgoing a hot chocolate (and staying well) or your whole household coming down with a cold this xmas/new year (but you get a hot chocolate), we would all surely choose to forgo the hot chocolate.

however, for some reason people think it’s fine to choose the hot chocolate so long as it’s other people who get the cold.

Well I grabbed a hot chocolate. Not the end of the world