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 had an irritating cough for a couple of months now. It starts to go then comes back again. Went to the doctors this week as feeling pretty run down too. They told me I had a ‘recurring virus’ whereby I was recovering, then picking it back up again from others because the current virus makes immune system very low. I was advised to stay home and avoid crowds to break the cycle for myself, but also to avoid spreading it. I wonder if GPs are being told to try and get people to isolate to stop the current escalation of flu etc?

I didn’t post anything from social media. Go read the links to the NHS advice reported in major new outlets.,

There’s no mandatory guidance, no one has to stay at home or wear a mask. It’s not the Covid pandemic. It’s flu a bit early.

Yep, actual NHS guidelines.
Posting shite from random SM and news sites is crap. They also all say you can claim PIP for acne etc. Don't get health/money info from them.

Edited for typos

Always a bit suspicious of the self righteous. Usually the ones getting up to all sorts IMO . Sorry you got yelled at in the shop OP. It’s not nice to yell at people, obviously. And then getting yelled at in here. To which the incoming rebuttal from said self righteous is likely to be : “Well, it’s not nice to leave the house when coughing/ getting over a cold/sub-optimal…”

Always a bit suspicious of the self righteous. Usually the ones getting up to all sorts IMO . Sorry you got yelled at in the shop OP. It’s not nice to yell at people, obviously. And then getting yelled at in here. To which the incoming rebuttal from said self righteous is likely to be : “Well, it’s not nice to leave the house when coughing/ getting over a cold/sub-optimal…”

Always a bit suspicious of the self righteous. Usually the ones getting up to all sorts IMO . Sorry you got yelled at in the shop OP. It’s not nice to yell at people, obviously. And then getting yelled at in here. To which the incoming rebuttal from said self righteous is likely to be : “Well, it’s not nice to leave the house when coughing/ getting over a cold/sub-optimal…”

I think it was obvious OP was sick, because he was right in his deduction that she was sick.

Im so sorry to read you live in a house without windows.

Yes I’ve noticed that too no one was clinically vulnerable before Covid but now all of a sudden no one can be in close contact with anyone it’s all getting ridiculous now.

Except she has said she has post-nasal drip.

You are just making things up now to suit your own narrative.

Opening a window isn’t the same as getting outdoors and moving, and you know it.

I like to think I don’t look ill, thanks!

But if he was not, was he still right to shout at her? Not a passive aggressive eyeroll, but actual shouting at a lone woman?
I bet he would never have shouted at a man.

Here is the UKHSA
https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/12/02/how-to-avoid-catching-flu-covid-19-and-other-respiratory-illnesses-this-winter/

“If you need to go out, then avoid close contact with anyone who you know is at higher risk of becoming seriously unwell.”

and
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-symptoms-of-a-respiratory-infection-including-covid-19

Not so long ago, a friend of mine went to the local off license and coughed (covering her mouth) and the woman standing next to her gave her a petrified look and actually ran away, out of the shop. Running.

I think Covid gave some people permanent cough anxiety. I have also found that some old men like to shout at or scold or be arseholes to women, if they think they can get away with it.

If you think you could still be infectious and it's a nasty cold or flu (a quick Google will tell you the approximate timelines) please only go out and about when you have to.

But that's just city life I'm afraid. We all have to rub along somehow.

I think it is sad. The fear around Covid really did a number on some people's mental health.
I know a lady who has been wearing a mask when she leaves the house since Covid started.

Wonder if this man has shouted at anyone else for being out in public lately, or if he's going to repeat the performance? Being this entitled, he could rack up quite the string of incidents.

He wasn’t right to shout full stop. But OP shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If you go out coughing, then you risk upsetting people who rightly think OP should be following the guidelines.

100% percent guaranteed, he would not have shouted at a man.

It sounds very upsetting, but IMHO you did nothing wrong.

Sadly, people dying or being hurt from COVID could have affected this older gentleman's friends/spouse/family so his perceptions are on high alert. It's only 5 years since we were in the middle of the pandemic.

Try not to take his outburst too personally, even though it wasn't fair to take his fears out on you.

I hope you're feeling fully fit now.

neither of these are the NHS saying people with a COMMON COLD should stay at home.

"If you are feeling unwell, stay at home "

Op wasn't feeling unwell.

There’s no mandatory guidelines. It’s really not 2020 anymore.

Ffs, you know that a common cold IS a respiratory illness?