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The Carletonian

The Carletonian

The Carletonian

Staying Alive During Flu Season

<w, you’re probably sick (pun intended) of hearing about how to avoid catching whatever bug is currently infecting every student on campus. If you’re not licking the ground or blowing your nose with your flu-infected roommate’s used tissues that you picked out of his trash can, you’re probably just as likely as the next fellow to catch whatever is being passed around the student body.

Thanks to sneeze dropplets that exist in the air up to three days after they’ve been expelled from whoever’s nose, there’s a slight chance that you’ll catch the Campus Flu solely by walking around in blissful ignorance of invisible dropplets. Otherwise, staying smart is your numero uno defense against The Cold (i.e. wash your hands, get some sleep already, eat your veggies, drink tea, etc.) but that only goes so far.

Alright, alright, you understand how to stay healthy at a basic level- but you still caught some nasty mutant virus and just spent midterm break holed up in your room watching re-runs of “Sherlock” whilst avoiding civilization like the plague (I’ll stop with the puns now…). So here’s a concern: you can’t get out of bed, your roommate peaced out for the day without telling you where he went, and you really need some sort of food but are afraid of bopping down to the dining hall because a). you could infect 10 other people in the space of five minutes and b). you might die/ pass out en route because you’re that seriously ill. What’s your plan of action now?

Luckily for you, Bon Appétit has your coughing-behind covered. All you need to do is write a note explaining how deathly sick you are, pass it on along with your OneCard to a friend or your roommate who is going to the dining hall, have them get you a to-go container full of soup or honeyed tea, and you’re set! If you’re sick long enough, Bon Appétit will keep your ID number so that the OneCard scanner only needs to hear your name to give your friend permission to take out a lot of food.

So stay smart, don’t drink from toilet bowls, and take vitamins! Also, it doesn’t hurt to get an extra hour or two of sleep per night and to do some relaxation on the weekends like yoga or taking long walks in the Arb. Even if you end up catching some bug, remember that you won’t die and to seek help from the SHAC if it becomes too much to self-medicate.

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