This is freakin' ridiculous!

OK, I know I'm extremely susceptible to all things threatening to the respiratory system.

But really, this is truly craziness!

Last Tuesday, when I was in the grocery store, the cashier was sneezing like a mad fool and was in absolute misery.

Of course, my first thought was, "Great, just what I need heading into Christmas!"  Because naturally, I figured she had a cold and was spreading it all over the place (ie moi, who picks up everything without even trying).

She quickly apologized for the violent sneezing attacks, explaining that a customer had come through ahead of me whose bags were covered in cat hair and she (the cashier) was severely allergic to cats.

"OK," I thought, "I guess I'll be fine then because you can't catch allergic responses."

And I went on my merry way.

Yesterday, precisely five days later, I'm suffering with non-stop sneezing, and I'm coughing and my eyes are watering to beat the band.

What's up with this?  I wonder.

And then it dawns on me.

That damned cashier WAS sick and had just made up the cat hair story!  How dare she expose customers to her virus like that (and then dismiss it with such a blatant lie!)?  Had management put her up to it, insisting that she work in spite of her so obviously not being well?

My little chickadee did not come up with the statement, "Someone sneezes in Montreal, and my Mom gets sick," without cause.  She came up with it because her Mom has a compromised respiratory system and gets sick with the very slightest exposure to just about anything that flies through the air.

So now, I'll ride this out and pray that it doesn't last a week.

And after January 13th, I guess I won't stick my head outside the door of my home, lest I pick something up before my surgery.