Plague.

Germs often behave like fads. First, a few people have them, but soon everywhere you go people are sick. I sometimes wonder about the path infection takes. An episode of Scrubs once illustrated via a green tint the way people transmit disease, and the chilling opening to Outbreak shows how an airborne virus can spread quickly.

It's been cold lately, especially at night, and raining for days. It's supposedly August, but feels much later in the year. I haven't been complaining though, and save for being caught in the rain while marching through Little Italy on Sunday, I couldn't think of any other reasons why I had a tickle in my throat on Wednesday morning. It turned in to a full blown sore throat by day's end, the worst cold symptom in my opinion. I don't mind sneezing or a pesky cough, but a sore throat is unbearable and I go through cough drops, ice cubes, and mouthwash at a frightening and futile pace. Time is the only true remedy.

I've heard some sniffling and coughing at my new job. I have my own office now, so I suppose shutting the door and closing my blinds is an option to create a quiet, healthy environment. I've never had an office before though, so I don't know the etiquette there. It might be rude, and I've only done it once to make an important call about my 401K plan. Having a door to close is still a very nice option.

I find myself visiting the break room at least twice a day for some complementary hot tea, and I realize by doing so at 10 AM and 4 PM, I'm already developing a new routine. Faced with his own concluding employment, an older former coworker once told me loss of a routine was his biggest fear until he came to the realization that he'd just get a new routine.

I wondered if the rain caused my vulnerability, or if I was in an infected new environment. I ran out of Vitamin C a few weeks ago and hadn't gotten around to replacing my supply. Having since corrected it with mega doses of 1,000 MG in the morning and another 1,000 at night, I seem to be knocking this thing out after only 2 days. The sore throat is gone and except for an occasionally sneeze or runny nose, my biggest complaint is my legs. My legs ache like I've run six miles, which is ironic considering the fact that it's been days since I last ran. My new company doesn't have their own gym, and I'll have to look in to expensive outside gyms if I want to continue my daily exercise. I did notice that I had less colds during the years I was working out regularly. On the other hand, getting home several hours before 8 PM every night this week has been kind of nice. Maybe it's time to get out a wrench and tighten my old stationary bike. If the weather was nicer, I might even consider jogging outside. So far I’ve only had one decent day this week to walk around at lunch and explore the new neighborhood.

So, since I haven't exercised in a week, stopped taking one of my vitamins, started a new job, got caught in the rain a few times, and Iwoke up freezing at night because I hadn't put blankets out yet, my cold really wasn't a mystery. Any or all of those elements could have contributed. Of course, there was one variable I didn't account for. Chatting with my pal Sparkplug on Thursday, I joked about him going to England to see the girl he made out with last Friday. “She gave me a cold! Darn her...” he grumped.

Like that episode of Scrubs or that scene in Outbreak, my brain rewound the events of the past week. I saw some foreign plague alighting on a couple of girls as they boarded a plane and unintentionally exported germs. I saw them hopping from bar to bar after a week of sightseeing in Manhattan, picking up a combining strains into mutated hybrids. I saw them handling glasses of beer, and passing them to me. Finally, I remembered leaning in close to hear one girl speak, her unusually warm breath on my ear sending shivers down my lonely, lonely spine.

My friend shouldn't complain about being sick; at least he got to kiss Typhoid Mary.