Turn Your Head To The Right & Cough...

I, for one would like to know when we moved from: covering your mouth with a cupped hand in lieu of: shoving your bent arm to your face, so as to effectively cough into your elbow?!

I first noticed people doing it at BlogNashville. At which point I dismissed it as: "I'm not sure, but I think he might also be gay... so that must just be something 'they' do" (...not that there's anything wrong with that).

Then I noticed someone else at the conference do it... and I happened to know for a fact that this 2nd gentleman was not gay ...so THAT whole theory was shot to pieces!

New theory: "This must be something computer geeks do!" This was, after all, a room full of Bloggers -- people who are IN THE KNOW about a lot of things... If there's a new trend or fad, you can bet that Bloggers know about it first!

Now I'm just thinking: "I wonder why COMPUTER geeks have chosen this cough-into-your-arm-thing as their 'universal symbol'?" Ahhhh I have a lot to learn...

EVERYbody's Doing It!
The next weekend, I'm at Kohl's and I notice that the cute little girl behind the counter did it... she actually coughed into her arm!

At this point, I'm outta theories.

Besides this entire town having the croup or something... with all this coughing... I was stumped that I was so far out of the loop on this one.

Teach Your Children...
Then, lo and behold, I notice that this idea has spread far beyond my little community... It does, in fact, appear that coughing into your arm is "a preferred method of promoting good hygeine"!

Who knew?

They're doing it in Columbus, Ohio -- even encouraging children to "cough into your arm sleeves, not your hand". And it's actually considered "flu etiquette" these days.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it appears that you should be covering your mouth with your elbow from now on.

Other References Citing Reasons To Cough Into Your Arm:

• Thomas Osborne, M.D.

"Sneeze or cough into a tissue, not your hands. Germs cling to your hands, and sneezing into them results in passing along your germs to others. Use a tissue to catch germs and then throw it away immediately. If a tissue isn’t available, sneeze into the upper arm of your sleeve. When outside, turn your head to the side and sneeze into the air."

• Joann Flora, Acupressure & Nutrition Counselor

"Sneeze and cough into the crook of your arm, not on your hands. We've all been raised to politely cover our mouths when we sneeze or cough. This is an effective way of preventing the spray of germs into the air around us. However, the next thing we touch or pass to another person carries them on. By using the crook of the arm, we limit the spread by air and contact."

So now I've come to the conclusion that I must just be completely out of touch.

Still, I'll continue to cover my mouth with my hand, as opposed to my elbow!
...The other way just LOOKS silly.

What I Learned Today...
(I told you Bloggers were always the first to know!)

--- > More humor about coughing...