The Common Cold: A Review
There is no death sentence quite like getting sick during midterm season.
In a world where we’re always on the clock and deadlines approach at frightening paces, slowing down doesn’t seem like an option – which is ironic when the very things speeding us up (all-nighters, long study sessions, and stress eating, to name a few) also drive our downfall.
College is already stressful enough as it is; add some pathogenic bacteria into the mix, and you’ve got a cocktail of purgatory handed to you on a silver platter. The common cold makes life just bearable enough to let you get things done, but all while your throat burns and your face feels stuffed with a million cotton balls. I’ve always been the one to encourage my sick friends to stay home and rest. After all, the priority should be with your physical health, rather than pushing yourself too far by going to all your classes and maybe even getting other people sick. I’m quick to say things like, “Oh, your professors will understand! Get some rest and you’ll be doing yourself a favor in the long run.”
It turns out I’m also a hypocrite.
How easy it was to convince myself I had to attend my classes! “All your classes are attendance-based, you have to go!” I catch myself becoming the very person I swore I’d never become: low-key flexing at my ability to be sick and present to all my classes. The scariest part? How I felt, deep down, proud of this fact. “Yeah I’m super sick right now.” In my own delirious, feverish state, I was bragging about my own illness.
This is, in essence, the dichotomy of the college student.
We all want to be the supportive, dedicated friend, looking out for each other. A person that’s down-to-earth and knows when to make the right call. On the flip side of the coin is the one described above. We want, on some level, to feel accomplished. In an era where work ethic has been commodified, every hour spent on work is an hour we can pocket to “spend” later. Even at the expense of our own bodies.
“There’s something distinctly human about the common cold.”
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be proud of our own accomplishments. We should absolutely take moments to look back at where we started and to admire where we are now. Redirecting our energies to more productive uses of pride, rather than arrogantly exclaiming our own outrageous tendencies, should be the priority.
But no one wants to be sick forever. For something that’s not quite serious enough for extreme measures like antibiotics and doctor appointments, there are a number of home remedies I’ve encountered. From gargling salt water to drinking hot water or cold water or lukewarm water with a touch of honey, I’ve heard it all. Whenever I got sick as a child, my mom used to make me Korean pear tea with honey and ginger. I can remember the taste even to this day, so many years later. More recently, I discovered Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa for sore throats and colds (a dark syrup with a distinct taste of honey and cough medicine). The efficacy of these remedies is still left to be said, but there was certainly no harm done in taking them. Leave it to the common cold to keep us all a little superstitious.
There’s something about the taste of cold remedies that just sticks in your head. The combination of stuffiness, the tissues, hot teas and soups, and short-lived relief come forward in my memory with little effort. And with them come the longings of normalness, of homeostasis. “I’ll never take my health for granted ever again!” But without fail, a week later, it’s as if the illness never happened. My body returns to homeostasis, and I forget my own promises.
A relevant xkcd comic (#1157)
Being sick has also made me appreciate the care and support available to me. If this sickness gets serious, I have the option to check into an emergency room and get care from a trained doctor. I have pharmacies and stores to buy medications from, and the money to even purchase them. I have the support of my peers, mentors, and professors that understand the hardships of college and being a, well, human being. In countries across the ocean, something like this can be life threatening. There are those without the resources to fight something as “simple” as the common cold. And while every effort should be made to push better healthcare infrastructure and resources to these areas, it is also a reminder of the amazing resources available to me at all times.
There’s something distinctly human about the cold. Despite its every attempt to bring us down, we fight on, going about our everyday lives (sometimes to greater lengths than we care to admit). We’ve developed tools to fight an enemy we can’t even see.
I’ll probably be okay coming out of this cold. But it still sucks, which quite nicely summarizes the human condition.
I rate the common cold a 2/5.
Author’s Note:
For anyone wondering, a list of the home remedies I’ve tried so far and their ratings:
Salt water gurgling: 3/5, but a 3.5/5 if the water is hot
Honey Citron Tea from Seoul Mart: 3.5/5; hot water is good, honey citron tea is also good
Hot water and honey: Also 3.5/5, I think anything with hot water can’t go wrong
Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa: 4/5, sweet honey syrup with added cough syrup after taste; it at least gives me the illusion that it’s some kind of medicine, which never hurts.
Airborne Vitamin C: A solid 3/5; the gold standard.
For more like this, check out John Green’s “The Anthropocene Reviewed”