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?!

If everyone did that it would bring the country to its knees not just the NHS.

You probably didn’t cover your mouth. Don’t blame him.

Good point.

I’m with the old man. Keep your germs out of public places

She said she did.
Why is it ok for a man to shout at a lone woman?

The post nasal drip could be giving you the sore throat as well.

YANBU

Erm yeah it can. Why does your inability to sit on the sofa watching Netflix trump other people’s desire to not get your cold. Not like you were running the coffee shop - your livelihood was not at risk if you didn’t sit there spreading your germs. And I’m sure the staff at the coffee shop loved having to handle your virus covered cup.

Your cough was probably an obvious ‘active cold cough’ and that’s why he was bothered. However, no, he shouldn’t have said anything. Assuming you’re in uk…the rule is you sit hating on people quietly. And I’m sure that’s what the rest of the room was doing.

I don’t believe she actually did. If she did she would have put it in the OP itself

“If that desperate to get out”? Sorry, but that sounds like straight from 2020.
There must be lots of people with minor colds out and about at the moment, the country would grind to a halt every winter otherwise.

It might be minor to you, but for others, it could be much more annoying, even serious.

You were coughing in a café - a place where people were eating & drinking? Did you cover your mouth with a handkerchief, or cough into your elbow? If you know you have a cold virus, did you wear a mask in public, to safe guard others?

If not, you're selfish & thoughtless.

Exactly this. I’ve been at work all week and pop for a hot chocolate and suddenly I’m the reason the NHS is on its knees. It’s just made my head scrambled a bit. I do understand why it could be frustrating but given that I know the reason I’m coughing it seems like a total overreaction from him!

Fucking hell, this thread is like a time warp back to 2020.

As per my first reply, yes I did cover my mouth.

Okay, you don’t have to believe me. But I did.

There are thousands of people currently hospitalised with flu.

According to BBC site, average number in week of 14 December was 3140 hospital beds occupied by flu cases, up from 2660 week of 7 December.

So the increase week on week isn't in the thousands, it's in the mid-hundreds but there are still thousands in hospital.

And people with colds and other bugs should avoid infecting other people. No one wants your cold.

I don’t agree with people who are heavily symptomatic with nasty things like flu exposing people to bugs knowingly but that man is totally unreasonable. He knows nothing about you, you could have any number of medical conditions that are not contagious causing a cough. It’s not his place to be shouting at people in coffee shops it’s completely over the top.

Meeting a friend for lunch when you are contagious is a horrible thing to do, unless you gave her a heads up so she had the opportunity to cancel.

He's a casualty of the Campaign of Fear entrenched by Saint Boris and his merry men. He misses lockdown as do some Mumsnetters, when being an interfering busybody was a noble and heroic trait.

Before sugar became the "Devil's favourite food", in the media's never-ending quest to demonise some pleasure or other, such as smoking, didn't coffee have a bad reputation at one point? That caffeine put a strain on people's hearts, and gave them heart attacks? If so, this gentleman shouldn't be in a coffee shop.

Either thousands of people would be hospitalised every week (in which case it would be 10s of thousands in hospital by now), or it isn’t. The number in hospital is no higher than previous years, it’s just peaked earlier.

I do not have the flu. I have a post viral cough.

Not really the point of your post, but as a fellow post nasal drip sufferer, I can’t resist passing on a trick that solved my post nasal drip

First thing in the morning, crush a clove of fresh garlic between two spoons. Swallow the crushed clove with a big glass of water chaser. Feel your sinuses drying up.

Repeat until magically the cough has disappeared. Start it again anytime you feel that tell tale tickle in your throat.

it’s not ideal but it really does work.

Honestly dont stress op. MN is a bit notorious for demanding people isolate over a sniffle. In the real world most people just carry on as normal if they dont feel like shit.

I’m asthmatic and as such I have what sounds like a constant ‘cough’ . But although I am not infectious I am aware that the very action of coughing does potentially expel particles that are in the mouth and throat. Hence, I always cover my mouth as the OP did. People should learn a little tolerance………my ‘cough’ will never clear up, am I destined to hide away because people like that man think I should?

I do completely understand what you’re saying, but the issue is that masks work best at holding things in, not keeping things out. So it’s better for anyone who is sick to wear a mask, in addition to people who are clinically vulnerable. Yes, the NHS is absolutely on its knees, but the best thing you can do, if you can’t self-isolate because I do understand, is to wear the mask, even if it’s just a cold. This is how they do it in Asian megacities like Shanghai and Tokyo. I have to start a very serious immune-suppressing medication in January, and a cold could send me to hospital, unfortunately. A “chesty” cough could kill me.

So to anyone wearing a mask when they’re sick - thank you from me and everyone immunosuppressed!

EDIT: That said, it was very unreasonable for anyone to yell at you! Unless you coughed straight into their drink 😂

I get a runny nose when it's cold too. I also have asthma and a post nasal drip with phlegm, permanently, so I'm often clearing my throat and/or coughing. If I got bollocked by someone because they thought I was spreading viruses, I'd give it right back at them. It's understandable to be annoyed by someone who appears to be viral in public, but it's never okay to shout at them for it.

OP wasn't even coughing out into the air, she was making attempts to smother it and stop it being bunged out around other people. That's the polite thing to do if you've got a tickly throat.

The nhs is not on its knees.