Kids Vs Adults : Getting Sick

Getting sick as an adult is an absolute curse. The older we are, the less capable we become. We simply can't deal with it. At the first sign of a sniffle we go into panic mode.

I haven't had health insurance since I graduated college. The prospect of paying for healthcare out of pocket has gained the same status on my mental shelf of "DEAR GOD, NO, ANYTHING BUT THAT" as car accidents and month-long vacations with my family. At the first sign of a sniffle I completely freak out. I dust off the multivitamin bottles I haven't touched since the last time I felt a tickle and start taking 3000mg of Vitamin C at a time, in an attempt to beat it to the punch. I forget the back-stock of decongestants stacked on top of the fridge and have Matt bring home half the pharmacy. I break out the Neti Pot (yes, the Neti Pot).

Some adults skip panicking and just go into denial. "I'm not sick. I can't be sick, so I'm not sick," and they show up to work with tissues and Advil Cold & Sinus and leave their will to live at home. Then everyone else avoids that person and sprays their most recent location with half a can of Lysol.

We weren't like this as children, though. Do you remember what it was like being sick as a child? You got to stay home, watch TV, eat whatever you wanted, play the same Disney VHS over and over again. At age seven, I'd zip up and down the house with a 101 degree fever singing songs from All Dogs Go to Heaven. Now when I get sick, I build a nest on my couch that would put a reed warbler into a jealous rage. As a kid I became a miniature Rembrant; being sick meant I could draw all freaking day. Now I barely have the drive to shower, much less tap into my creative energies.

I've been sick for almost a week now. On day four, when I decided I was no longer dealing with a "common cold" and could possibly be facing a "tiny inconvenient plague" I visited a nearby CVS Minute Clinic and paid $79 to receive the advice "Drink lots of water and blow your nose often." Somewhere between passing out at random intervals and finding chunks of my nose on the floor due to excessive blowing, I did this:

Sorry it's so big, I'm still getting used to how Blogger resizes things.