Having A Cold In 2008
 Wednesday, October 8th, 2008  by Connie T.

Kleenex cozy by Twinkie Chen

The economy may suck, but there is good news in 2008: we've come a long way in treating cold & flu, baby.

I unfortunately have a terrible cold that just opened up its very own can of whoop*ss on me, and Day 1 felt like 3 weeks. Couldn't breathe through my nose, couldn't sleep, couldn't swallow without remarking "ow" at my raw throat.

But on Day 2, I made a quick trip to the grocery store and picked up a few things: Tissues, cough drops, and cough syrup. Sounds simple, right?

Hardly. The tissues now come in Kleenex Anti-Viral, that kill 99.9% of Cold and Flu viruses. Not only are they soft - and have little blue anti-whatever beads in them that you can see after you blow your nose (TMI?) - but if I leave them out, or more likely cover the table with wads of them, whoever picks them up won't get instantly sick.

Vick's NyQuil Cold & Flu has multi-symptom relief: aches, fever, cough, sneezing, runny nose. And it gave me sleep for five uninterrupted hours, so I'm over the moon. Plus after I took it I wasn't so sure I hadn't just downed a mint julep shot. There's nothing like strong in a good way.

Daytime Theraflu is yummy hot lemonade that drains your fever and clears the fog from your head and sinuses.

And Ricola...oh, Cherry Honey Ricola. It feels like a team of invisible elves have moved into my mouth and throat and set up a vaporizer, turned on the AC, and are sprinkling tangy wild cherries all over the place. When did Ricola get so good? I literally sang out "Riiiiii-colaaaa" a minute after popping one. It is the #1 reason to have a cold. In fact, I dedicate this article to Ricola.

It must have been a while since I've had a cold, because while I was out there has been a change in cold and flu medicines: it seems they actually work now.

That's all. I just want you to know that I'll be grudgingly working through the day with a cold, but that it has all the perks of a 2008 cold. And I do expect Get Well baskets from all the companies I've flattered herein.

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