It’s been a while since I’ve had any kind of cold bug. There was a nasty bug flying around a couple of months ago and it seemed like everyone was under the weather, but, fortunately whenever it felt like I might be coming down with something it never developed into a full blown cold.

I wasn’t so sure that would be the case after our plane ride back from Cuba Sunday night. During the 5 1/2 hour flight all you could hear was a cacophony of coughing, sneezing, blowing, snorting, and everything else in between. There must have been a billion germs flying around that plane. You actually wanted to hold your breath for as long as possible to avoid breathing in all of that crap. I just had a feeling that whatever was flying around was going to come and get me.

There was a guy who was sitting next to me who had come down with something over the course of his vacation. Before he sat down his wife told me he’s been sick for about 4 days. “Great,” I said. She told me, “Don’t worry. He’s past the infectious stage.” Thank you doctor. He spent the entire flight home coughing into a damp face cloth that looked like it was probably lifted from his hotel room. At least he covered his mouth every time he coughed, which is a lot more than I can say for other people I know who don’t have the courtesy to do that.

I always enjoy chatting on a plane, but in this case I kept my conversation down to perfunctory chit chat. I didn’t want to be rude. I just didn’t want to have germs flying into my face for over 5 hours. Fortunately, knock on wood, nothing developed from that airplane germ fest.

I think the next time we fly I’ll grab a couple of those surgical masks. They might look funny, but after what I heard on that plane ride home, looking funny would be a wonderful alternative!