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 have asthma, Old Man. Don't worry, it's not catching.

many people happily go about infecting others for no reason other than “life doesn’t stop when you have a cold”

I don’t know how many more times I can explain that I am no longer actively unwell, but that due to a physical issue with my sinuses I get post viral coughs.

Life doesn't stop when you have a cold though.

YABU. You’re at the end of a cold, and your “lingering coughs” mean you are still shedding the virus. You were being ignorant.

If you covered your mouth, that means you coughed on your hands and are spreading your cold virus everywhere.

If you go out when ill (and yes if you’re still coughing, you’re still contagious), you should wear a mask, cough inside your shirt, and wash your hands after they go near your nose or mouth.

It’s unrealistic to isolate for every illness, but it’s selfish and ignorant to not take these basic measures to avoid unnecessary spread.

He was being ridiculous! I don't personally think it's fair to go out to unnecessary places when you have something contagious, just to stop anyone else getting it. I think there's a difference between self isolating and not leaving the house - not possible - and going to more other places out of choice where you could infect people, especially a few days before Christmas. But I wouldn't say anything to you or anyone about it.

I do and find that is a 'yeah, that shut you up' reply to most things. How do you even know it's a cold, or the flu or Covid or pneumonia or just an allergy to the cleaning products?

You wouldn't go out if you were poorly. People are very dramatic.

She coughed into her elbow. Unless she's rubbing the inside of her elbow around it's unlikely

I didn’t cough on my hands.

As I have explained. Due to an issue with my sinuses I get post nasal drip for WEEKS after a cold. I cannot stay inside every time my sinuses flared up.

Same. And I got shouted at for my asthmatic cough.

What school was that? Bash Street?

Disgusting.

Don't be ridiculous. I have a lingering tickly cough for at least a month, sometimes 3 after pretty much every cold I ever cold. I would never leave the house if I applied your draconian rules.

Reminds me of the time my dad got shouted at by a man in a plane queue just after the pandemic. My dad has COPD and coughs very badly. This man lost his mind at my dad for coughing and “not caring” about the pandemic. My dad just laughed in his face and said if he cared so much, he’d not be getting on a flight.

But the old man can have his hot chocolate and shout at women sitting on their own. OP is not the unreasonable one here.

It’s disgusting to cover your mouth? New one.

Why does your desire to go to a coffee shop outweigh someone's need to avoid illness for Xmas. Your mild cold could mean someone else ends up in A&E. I'm not saying don't go out but a quick pop to a shop is very different to sitting in a coffee shop. You pass someone in a shop for a few seconds so the likelihood of passing stuff on is much less whereas sitting in a coffee shop for an hour ish (and coughing) is much more likely to spread a viral load.

I find it pretty selfish to be honest although they shouldn't have shouted at you.

"outweigh someone's need to avoid illness for Xmas."

If that was the case you'd not be out in a coffee shop, surely?!

Since the elderly cost the NHS more than anyone else, you should have told him to neck himself for the sake of the economically productive.

Then you didn’t cover your mouth properly. There is absolutely nothing to stop you masking.

Your sinus issue is irrelevant, the evolutionary purpose of post viral coughs runny noses and sneezes is to spread the virus. Your sinus issue means you’re more vulnerable and find it harder to fight off respiratory infections. So you’ll shed the virus for longer.

I didn’t say you should stay inside, I said you should WEAR A MASK when contagious. Stop being selfish, it’s not hard.

They're not the one who is ill though are they.

Absolutely.

You should stay at home and watch Netflix, irrespective of your and your family's circumstances. Only leave the house for approved MN reasons which are basically if you have used up all the food in the house, or if someone's leg is hanging off. No "non-essentials" allowed.

FFS. I thought all the people who populated the threads in 2020 with phrases like "covidiot" and talked about murdering grannies with trips to supermarkets to buy non-essentials had realised the error of their ways and reconsidered. Obviously not.

I did cover my mouth properly.

It's 2025. I don't own a mask.

Tbf op isnt getting a bad rap at all, its the tiniest minority who believe op should isolate for weeks over a slight cough 🙄

All these vulnerable people should be at home if they are worried about the viral load, not in a cafe.

You didn't finish your final sentence, which needs "me" on the end of it.

ETA I'm not suggesting you need to stay home but at least own that it is a bit selfish. I mean lots of things are. But when op says she "go insane" staying in, what she really means is it is an inconvenience. Which it is. But call it what it is.

I think a lot of the Covid curtain twitchers have re emerged