Coughs n Sneezes

This last week or so I seem to have been running loads of fares to various doctors surgery's and to and from the Baycall clinic at Furness General hospital. Most of them seem to be suffering from the nasty bug which is spreading locally like wildfire, they tell me that it's a 48 or at worst 72 hour thing. One lady, that I was taking to a doctors today asked "aren't you cab drivers ever sick, you must come into contact with all sorts of people breathing bugs over you" True" I replied, but maybe we build up immunity with coming into contact with so many people. But the sad truth is that we get ill just as often as everyone else but nobody wants to hear about our illnesses. It's one of the worst things you can do as a taxi driver, the odd one who does mention being ill gets known as a moaner and customer's will ask not to be picked up by them. Let's face it the customers paying the fare and if you simply ask if they are alright they feel perfectly entitled to list all the symptoms of their present illness and of every other that they and their family's have ever suffered in their lifetimes. When we got to the lady's doctors she reached into her bag and started to sort the money for the fare out from amongst the used cotton buds and snotty tissues. When she went to give me the handful of small change she sneezed loudly and wetly into the hand all over the cash. Without batting an eyelid she handed it to me and said "Do you want to count that?"