Cough. I think I’ve got it

I’m gradually getting over a bout of bronchitis. I managed to skip over the typical cold and went right to a cough. Or something like that. I know exactly when and where I caught “it” too.

March 7. I went over to my friend Charlie’s house to practice for our open mic outings. He said he felt like he was “coming down with something.” So, we just played for an hour or so in his little room down in his cellar. A perfect place for my run-down immune system to absorb the atmosphere. When I got home I dutifully took some extra vitamin C and some extra Zinc which they say may help with stuff like that.

The next day was okay. Charlie called. He couldn’t go to an open mic this week because they had other plans. I thought I had dodged a bullet and went to my monthly Huntington’s support group at UConn. My throat was starting to get itchy. By the next day, I started to feel like crap. I still managed to do the work I had to do. And take Marty out when it wasn’t snowing or raining. And I brought my car in for an oil change.

Dave, the owner of DJ’s (unauthorized) Toyota, wanted to come into the little waiting room and say hello and to offer his condolences about Kathy. I told him I was sick with something, but he said he just got off of a flight from California. “So, I’m immune.” The following week  I had to go to the (authorized) Toyota dealer for a recall notice. I just sat away from everyone, but I did try to cough on a sales rep who came to bother me. I asked him to change the channel from Fox News.

The Doctor’s Office: By then I had made an appointment with Dr. Lyons, my doctor. Charlie came over to my house to practice on Monday and heard me coughing. I told him I was going to the doctor tomorrow. He said his wife made him go to the doctor. It turned out he had some pneumonia. Great.

Doctor Lyons listened to my chest and my breathing. Of course, at that particular moment, my lungs sounded clear. He wanted to avoid giving me antibiotics. I just needed to “wait it out.” He said it can take weeks to get rid of bronchitis. The X-ray technician was out that day, but if I wanted I could come back the next week for a chest x-ray. Otherwise, the only place where I could get one with my insurance was at Mercy Hospital in Springfield.

Throwing in the towel. On my way out I used the restroom. They had the usual flyer on the wall about washing your hands. And drying them with paper towels. You see them in every public restroom. The grocery stores and Dunkin Donuts have signs with the same basic message. And the same problem: No paper towels.

They all have electric hand dryers. And no paper towels. According to the signage, they also want you to turn the faucet off with a paper towel and I assume to use another paper towel to turn the doorknob to get out. I guess from then on you are on your own unless you bring your own sanitizer or rubber gloves.

No towels? No problem. So, as a public service, I redesigned their bathroom sign. Feel free to save and distribute. You are welcome.