If you're sick, stay home

Dear Phlegmy-cough girl at the gym,

I understand your need to work out, but seriously, when you're part of a class at the gym that is crowded, hot, and sauna-like, it is an obvious breeding ground for germs. Germs that you are so inconsiderately blasting out of your mouth each time you cough. And, thanks for trying to help the situation (if that's honestly what you think you're doing), but covering your mouth with your hands does NOT help. Evenutally, someone is going to have to use the weights after you! And how convenient for me that my step is right in front of yours, so every time you cough while you're hopping around during our strenuous routine, your little germies are flying toward me, and I am breathing hard and inevitably inhaling it all in.

Maybe the first time you had to stop in the middle of the set, keel over, and cough up a good one wasn't enough to make you realize that you probably shouldn't be exposing everyone in this class to whatever it is that's making you like this.

Now, here it is the next day and I am still paranoid about what I may or may not have caught from you, feeling a slight tickle and scratch in my throat, downing immune-boosting tea and Airbornes (thanks, Vanessa!), chugging water, and washing my hands constantly. I do not want to get sick 'cause there is too much of the holiday-treats sharing going on in my office right now, and it's gonna be a stressful week for me, so I need all the working out I can get.

Hope you feel better, and please stay out of the gym until you do.

Love,

Rene