Diseased

For the past three weeks, I have been a walking pit stop for all microbes that can make a person miserable (well, okay not quite ALL...mostly just the cold/flu related ones--thankfully no Shigella!). First, I got a sore throat that then developed into laryngitis. I am a pretty quiet person, so no talking would not normally upset me too much. Unfortunately, I had to give a lecture for class, so not talking was not an option. I spent an entire weekend trying every possible measure to get my voice back. Luckily, I recovered enough to squeak through the lecture, and it actually went fairly well (here's a tip: if you lose your voice and have to teach a class, ask the students lots of questions so they do all the talking!). Was that the end of my misery, though? Perhaps I angered the gods in some way because within days of recovering my voice I got a major sinus infection. Were the microbes content to stay in my sinuses? No! They then happily took up residence in my eyes giving me pink eye! Again (I got pink eye in college. I think I got it after petting a cow, which is a very long story...)! So not only did I sound like a fog horn, I looked like I was doing crack. Let me tell you, no one wants to be around someone who looks cracked out. I recently helped a guy pick up something he dropped. He started to thank me when he looked up, took one look at me, and walked off (well, hopefully it was because of my pink eye).

Here is the upside to having pink eye. I wore sunglasses everywhere, which may seem weird, but it is actually a terrific way to spy on people. In the subway, you don't have to worry about not making eye contact with crazy people, and if you want to check out some cute shoes or a handbag someone is wearing, you don't have to worry that they think you're a crazy person checking them out.