Thursday, August 20, 2009

Germs ARE the Enemy

August 20, 2009

Last week the kids started school. By Friday, Luke was sick with a sore throat. Sunday night Emma started complaining of her throat hurting. Monday night I was stricken with the sore throat virus. Today Jason is also home sick with the evil bug. Five days at school was all it took for the whole family to get sick. Awesome.

For the most part, the kids are better. Jason doesn't think he has as bad a case of it. As is my custom, I took the virus and ran with it. I had to go to Dr. Sinus today because the stuff coming out of my nose had taken on some shades of Christmas-time.

The great thing about Dr. Sinus is that you don't have to have an appointment. There weren't that many people in the waiting room when I got there, and there weren't too awful many cars in the parking lot, so I knew it probably wouldn't be that long a wait. I was kept entertained by a cute little girl who asked, no, demanded to know the names of every person in that room. (Her name was Marley. She was almost 3.) Every one that came in was required to have a conversation with Marley. She made sure of that.

Maybe I'm weird this way, but before I go to the doctor's office, no matter how sick I am, I take a shower, get dressed, and even put on make-up. Today it was mostly just concealer to hide the dark circles under my eyes and powder to hide how red my nose is, as well as mascara and lipstick, so that I didn't look completely dead.

In contrast, I saw not one, but TWO twenty-something year old women in the waiting room wearing their pajamas. One was decked out in matching Tweety Bird lounge pants, shirt, and fuzzy black slippers. The other was slightly more conservative, but was obviously wearing jammies. When did this become acceptable? Yes, I will admit to dropping the kids off in the mornings at school wearing jammies (only last year--I've managed to dress every morning so far this school year), but I have never set foot out of the car in them, much less gone to a doctor's office or anywhere else in public. I could see it if they were so stricken that they had to make an ER visit, but if they are well enough to drive themself to a doctor's office, it seems to me that they could've, at the very least, put on sweats and tennis shoes or flip flops! The fuzzy slippers sent me over the edge. If Marley hadn't been asking me (for the 3rd time) what my name was, I totally would've laughed at the Tweety-bird-and-fuzzy-slipper wearing-girl.

Later I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some ingredients for vegetable soup for tonight's dinner. I remembered that Emma needed new socks, so I was browsing through the sock aisle when this man comes at me on a motorized scooter. I kept edging to the left to try to keep from being run over when I saw a woman on a scooter coming at me from the other side. I don't know if they expected me to levitate or continue our game of chicken, or what, so I quickly manuevered through them to keep from being Wal-Mart sock aisle roadkill.

While I'm on that subject, since when did everybody think it's okay to use those motorized scooters? It used to be that you would only see people with major ailments, like a broken leg or foot injury, or an elderly person using them. Now it seems like some of the people I see on them are just lazy. They drive to the chip aisle and then hop off and walk with no difficulty over to the Cheetos and Fritos, then hop back on. It seems to me that the door greeter should screen these people like the government does for disability to determine whether or not they are eligible to use the motorized scooter.

So, here I sit with my box of kleenex (second one in 24 hours), my antibiotics for the sinus/ear infections, and my decongestant. Do y'all know how under-rated breathing really is?

15 delightful comments:

jasonS said...

Wow, that was quick. I don't know when it became acceptable to wear pajamas in public. Maybe it depends on the family you were raised in. Me? I have hard time going out in sweat pants unless I'm going to the gym. That's an extreme opposite maybe, but still true. No jammies in public for me that's for sure...

midnightblooms said...

College kids wander around campus, and go to class, in jammies and slippers. I suppose it's only logical that if you can be educated in your pjs, you can be diagnosed in them, too.

Jill said...

Jammies in public - not acceptable in my book. I wouldn't even wear them in the car because with my luck, I would have a flat tire or get pulled over or whatever...

Christen said...

Hope you feel better soon!
We used to live in Auburn and unfortunately I had to make several trips to the urgent care place while we were living there :) Every time I went there I saw at least 2 or 3 college kids there in their PJ's! I, on the other hand, would not be caught dead out in public with my PJ's on!

Rachel said...

I've noticed the pajama-at-doctor phenomenon too. I think it's part of the ruse to convince the doctor of HOW. SICK. YOU. REALLY. ARE. They're the same people that WAY overaccentuate their raspiness when calling in sick to work.

I was almost run over my an electric scooter not long ago too!! I'm sure that's why you were - our weird connection and all. I'm like a Lianne voodoo doll - if it happens to me, be expecting it to happen to you soon afterwards.

Just wait till I get pregnant again... hee hee hee.

dog catcher said...

Amen!
i hate it when people come who have not showered and wear their PJs. They are usually teens to mid 20s. half of them have not brushed their teeth, (other half do not have teeth!)--seriously, i have a few 20 something patients who have dentures!
the crazy thing is often, but not always, the ones that are dressed the worst are the least sick!

j said...

Sock aisle road kill - THAT was hysterical.

I am guilty of PJs in the car too but not in the doctor's office. I would have to be waaaaay too sick to dress to ever do that. I hope I never am. But we have become a day of Casual Day Friday, 7 days a week.

Rachel said...

Christmas nose goo. Your ailment just happens to crack me up!

Wendy said...

Next time I think you should get a scooter and take the others on in a game of chicken. That would be cool...

Gina said...

I have not worn my pjs to take Abby to school. Yet. I'm sure my time is coming. I'm certainly not above it. I draw the line though at wearing them when I have to get out of the vehicle. If I go there, somebody stage an intervention.

Mrs. Jennifer said...

You don't even know - I used to work with 2 grown women who would wear pajamas...to work!

I haven't taken a snot free breath in years, so I feel ya.

Also, look carefully - there are still pictures of my Mawmaw on her motorized scooter, God rest her soul,with big red circles around them and slashes through them hanging at various establishments around town. There should definitely be a test for them.

Stacey said...

In defense of the PJ wearers - the last time I went to the dr. I was in PJ's and way too sick to dress, drive or even care! However, I don't go out in my jammies under normal circumstances. ;)

Hope you are feeling better.

KBeau said...

PJ's in the doctor's office are definitely not acceptable.

Anonymous said...

Fully dressed with 103 fever someone elsedrove me to the doctor . For normal days, I don't even go to the mailbox without makeup.

Hope you are feeling better.
Love,
Rene

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