I just got over a horrendous bout of a flu-like virus. For the better part of a weekend I did little else besides sleep. I could eat almost nothing and was so weak, I could barely make it up the three steps to my front door to get the mail. I went through four boxes of Kleenex and generally felt as if I had aged in dog years.
When I was a child, being sick meant staying home from school and watching TV, eating my mother's chicken soup and reading my favorite books if I was well enough to concentrate.
No more, however. These days, according to ads for cold medicines, a cold and fever shouldn't prevent you from getting out and conquering the elements.. 'I won't let a cold or fever stop me!' says one superwoman, who rises from her sickbed to go kayaking. It's not enough to just feel well enough to get out of bed. No, we should be conquering Mount Washington, deep sea diving and being lowered into glaciers like Dr Agassiz.
Same for children. One poor mopey child in another ad, sits forlornly in front of a piece of paper. Alas, she's unable to be creative because she's got a cold, but give her decongestant and she's painting pictures again. God forbid the kid should get one day where she just lies in bed.
Adults need to get back to work, so a good decongestant makes sense. But do we need to risk bronchitis by climbing the polar ice cap? and do kids REALLY need to be creative when they have a cold? are they somehow slacking off if they don't take one lousy day off to watch tv and eat chicken soup?
Finally a week later I'm capable of going to the gym. A whole week and no glacier climbing. I'm a failure as a sick person.
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