To the Girl Who Covered Her Cough: Thank You, Soldier?

You will never know how much you’ve done for me. You may never realize how important your role is on this campus.

It was a regular day at Norbucks: I had the usual (a last minute panic order of grande iced coffee—light ice and five pumps of classic syrup). Stacy was complaining to Bethany about yet another interview she had to do for a Lovers & Madmen position. Someone in one of the beanbags was crying on the phone about their Intro to Psych class. There was a general air of student life as the quarter and, more importantly, cold szn, set in. 

The freshman plague was making its rounds, as it be doing, and we would all fall victim eventually. Some of us were holding on longer than others, but it was inevitable. All around me were zombies of students going through their days, sniffling and wheezing. Are you people okay? I could almost see the germs, like Mucinex-commercial-style snickering in my face. I shuddered and tried to avoid anyone’s personal space before reaching a seat. I was safe here. 

You came and sat down opposite me. Immediately I could sense something. Was it… were you going to… sneeze? An impending sense of doom flooded my body. I couldn’t shake the feeling of what was coming next...

And then you did it. You coughed. But you, you... COVERED it…..

Never in my life, and this is not a joke, did I expect to see a Northwestern student cover their cough. In an instant, the crowds of fucking gross students around me disappeared from my mind. You came in and shattered every ounce of disgust I had been feeling since the moment I got to campus with these gremlins. I wonder if anyone else saw you. 

The world seemed to slow as my mind kept replaying the exact moment you did it, your cough sounding almost melodic and heavenly. Your face, in your sleeve… and not spraying your illness in my direction? This wasn’t something I’d forget anytime soon. 

I just want to say: thank you. Thank you for shedding light on an important issue and being brave like you did. It takes a lot to cover your cough, as generations of Northwestern students have proven. I can’t imagine someone doing more necessary work on this campus, or in the country. Now more than ever. Maybe one day, the incredibly nasty people I go to school with will follow the path you’ve carved. 

For now, I hope you stay true to yourself. And don’t ever stop fighting. You’ve gained a real admirer today. To the rest of you gross motherfuckers: go to hell. If I catch a cold from any of you, you’re catching these hands.