The Horrible Patient

It’s kind of ironic, I guess, that I wait until after the holiday and weeks after being around a bunch of ill people at work before I finally succumb to the head cold that’s been going around. The weather in Austin has been up and down lately — last night we hit a low near freezing — and given the stress I’ve been under, it’s not surprising that I got sick.

I’ve recognized for a while that I’m a bad sick person. In my case, the problem is that the moment I feel even slightly better I overexert myself and make my illness worse.

I never realized how much dedication goes in to the hypochondria and perpetual illness that some people seem to have. Would that I had the temperament to lay about demanding that others wait on me hand and foot. “Boy! Pit me an olive!”

So, I’m trying to be really good today, sitting on the sofa, keeping warm, drinking lots of liquids, and watching … OK, I’m not quite at the point where I can deal with mediocre daytime television. My head cold isn’t quite severe enough for me to deal with Elizabeth Hasselback. I don’t care how ill I feel, I’m not quite that ill.

But maybe I’m feeling ill enough for someone to bring me some soup?