It really is on the tips of everyone’s tongues. Long lost are excuses based on allergies and hay fever. The common cold has gone by the wayside like obvious excessive consumption. In its place, with every sniffle, cough and tissue are looks that could peel paint. I’ll admit I’ve perpetuated this problem. Stick me next to someone on the Tube with even a slight sniffle and I physically turn my body and even give a bit of an eye raise glare too. My antibacterial gel is my new accessory of choice. This was all well and good until I was the one sitting at work last Monday thinking:
11:00 am: “Dang, my allergies are really bad today. I’m feeling quite congested.”
12:00 pm: “Hmmm, I’ve a bit of a tickle in my throat...that’s just symptomatic of being STARVING. What’s for lunch?”
2:00 pm: “Hmmm, my allergies don’t really ever give me a sore throat. Must be some new cleaning product they have introduced to the office.”
4:00 pm: “Cough. Cough. Cough. Achoo. Cough. Cough. Cough. I feel like a dumpster garbage truck. How am I getting home on the Tube without people taking me out?”
One week later I’m still quarantined in my flat - having been sent home from work. My pleas of "I'm REALLY fine" made no difference to those who really didn't want to be sat near a coughing sneezing mess. Still, I’ve made it out a fair bit (nothing short of bringing Miss Candi Cupcakes out for a performance at Koko) – and even snuck into the office three days last week. Still, I've been “that person”. The one with the embarrassingly red nose, the one that was interviewing for a new project and had to say “sorry, probably best if I don’t shake your hand” , the one who has sworn over and over that “it’s not swine flu – if it was... certainly I’d have a fever and upset tummy (I didn’t) and wouldn’t have an appetite (I did).”
Lucky for me, in the midst of all of this I received my first ever “Organic Fruit and Veg” box from Abel and Cole. Technically for 1 person– forget about your '5 a day' – it was more like '12 a day'. There were so many carrots, potatoes, broad beans and zucchini I couldn’t even begin to think of what I was going to do with them. Throw in a massive head of cabbage and I was at a loss. Considering this was all just about when the cold was kicking off – I figured that a batch of vegetable and bean soup would work nicely.
Clearly with so many veggies to try and use up (and I only used about 2/3) my measurements were a bit off...and needless to say what was meant to be about 3-4 servings of veggie soup turned into 12.
I now say – swine flu – come if you must! My freezer is chock full with enough soup to get me (and my flatmate - she's having some for dinner tonight as she thinks she's coming down with whatever I have too) through a round of it...or really bad "allergies"...whatever comes first!
