Updated: 01/29/2009 10:14 PM KSTP.com | Print Story
By: Tim Sherno

SHERNO: Ahh-chew!

I'm getting a headcold. It arrived yesterday morning. It'll be with me for a few days.

In my family a cold was never a reason to call in sick, and that ethic is part of every wet explosive sneeze I expel. (Sharing is also a big ethic in my family.)

Today in the car on our way to a story I was chewing gum and felt a sneeze brewing like a sudden gusty storm. Both hands were occupied, I had to quickly free up at least two fingers to remove and hold the gum before...it happened. I made it just in time. That hasn't always been the case. One time I didn't have time to secure the gum, I sneezed and the gum went somewhere. I don't know where, I never found it. You'd think it would be somewhere in my line of site, but no. Never saw it again. Still in that car.

The cold I have now is the same cold that's been going around the newsroom. I'm told that it starts strong, fades briefly, then returns like a sloppy March snow. It's not March in my nose yet. But we all know it's coming.

Eventually, no matter how often you squirt Purell into your hands, how often you open doors with your elbow or wipe a phone on your sleeve before using it, a cold will find you. You slip up just once, you feel a tingle on the back of your throat and you know.

What can you do about the common cold? Not a lot... you just have to ride it out. My mother says drink plenty of fluids, I'm not sure why but I do. I have been craving soup, I'll try that. And mostly I'll just wait for this cold to turn into that nasty March snow... (pictured below)

                  (ahh-choooo!)