8 Strange Things That Happen When You Get Sick

With all the time you spend outside enjoying the brief cool, cloudy and rainy weather here in Dubai, there is a high chance you'll eventually catch a bug, and no I don't mean the Volkswagen type. The Flu, cold, sniffles or call it whatever you like, but its not going to be pleasant! And it goes like this.

ONE

First thing is of course is denial! Nose a little runny, throat a little ticklish? Nah, no need to worry about it, just a little sneeze, nothing serious, you tell yourself, it'll go away, but also a little worried at the back of your mind, it can't be happening to me, I can't afford to get sick this week. I got stuff to do. But as the symptoms start to increase in intensity, that little trickle down your nose, turns into a raging waterfall. And your sneezes now are powerful enough to whip up a small hurricane, you finally give into nature, that yes, you've been hit by, the not so smooth criminal, the common cold.

TWO

Then what you really don't want to be doing is, what we all today do when encountered with any sort of problem .... we Google it. Bad idea, because you'll soon find out you probably should be dead by now or dying and have precious little time left on this earth. The symptoms you have typed in are a word for word match for a very rare strain of Ebola some 17th century exploration expedition members caught while exploring the deepest depths of the Congo and it goes without saying none of them made it out alive and you are now the only other known case in history after those poor souls to have been infected by it. Well according to Dr Google anyways.

THREE

Well now its pretty much established you've got a cold and about to die any second, so you do the only thing one should do in such dire and extreme situations. Lets all your friends on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and the dozen other social media apps you are on, know that you are sick and document every minute of it. What better way to gain sympathy and act all victim like while sharing your woes over social media.

All of us also has those few evil friends that wait for such opportunities to get back at you for all the mean things you've done to them, or simply see through your sympathy gaining ruse or just plain out right don't believe you and think you over doing it a little too much, but what do they know!

FOUR

Next of course is the mess that comes along with being sick, you go through tissue boxes like the cookie monster goes through a box of cookies. And then once again trying to Google what a particular colour of snot really means. 

FIVE

While lying in bed, wallowing in self pity at your predicament, you can't help but do a flashback to see from who exactly did you catch your flu from. You try to recall everyone you have met, sat with, shared a sandwich, take a ride with so on and so forth, just so you can call him or her and give them an earful for making you sick, just make you feel slightly better, more so if they feel a little guilty about it. Yes its petty but adult rules don't apply when you are sick, more on that in point number 8

SIX

After a week of being in bed, all wheezed out, lungs spread out on your lap as you've coughed them out already, nose is so raw from going through 10 boxes of tissues a day that even the slightest touch from the softest fiber known to man feels like its rubbing against a old rusty cheese grater. Your body decides it has punished you enough and slowly starts to get back to normal. Even a tiny bit of relief is most welcomed.

But you're not entirely sure if its time to celebrate just yet, you could be jumping the gun. 

SEVEN

Eventually you start to feel much better and start to enjoy the small things which you took for granted before, like able to sleep and not wake up feeling even more tired than when you went to sleep. You face under constant pressure and feeling like its going to explode due to backed up, filled to the brim sinuses. 

Having just recovered, now you are extra vigilant, at least for a few days not to catch the bug again.

And now carry a pocket size bottle of sanitizing lotion, ( that promises to kill 99% of all bacteria, wonder why that last 1% always gets away ) in case someone pulls a fast one on you.

EIGHT

And finally you start acting like an adult again, because in the sickness rule book one of the first rules is all manner of adult behavior doesn't apply to you any more. You can act like a rotten 6 yr old and somehow everyone around has to put up with you and your shenanigans.

Hoped you liked this short articles on surviving the flu. And as always don't forget to comment below about what you think about this piece, also share and like this post by clicking on the social media icons below and also don't forget to smash that facebook like and share button, subscribe for more regular, interesting and entertaining content from Dubai Journals. 

Until next time, Yallah Bye!

Top 5 List : When It Rains In Dubai

So finally after a cracking dry winter spell, Dubai finally got lashed with a healthy dose of rain accompanied by some gusty winds. As I've already mentioned in my earlier post, that rain brings its own set of unique challenges to a place that really doesn't take anything other than all year round of warm blue skies and unlimited sunshine into consideration. So when we do get some weather, things often take a different turn, usually fun and mostly entertaining.

One : Rain Gear

Taking 365 days of sunny skies for granted, the most prominent thing being is most of us really aren't equipped to handle the rain.With closet space being at a premium for our latest summer fashion, there is no place for thick rain coats, jackets or hoodies.  So we just MacGuyver it with whatever we find lying around at arms reach. It's during these few days of rain we see the oddest rain gear make an appearance. Old shopping bags and plastic sheets turn into waterproof hoodies, some don't mind keeping only one's head dry good enough, and others who got caught unaware, something is better than nothing I guess.

Or when you still want to wear your Jimmy Choos or Yeezys because that normal everyday footwear here and mostly because no one really owns a pair of galoshes or if you prefer to call them willies or in just plain English, rubber boots. 

TWO : Wind Shield Wipers


You finally get to use that stalk on the other side of the steering, your windshield wipers, but then instant regret sets in, because you haven't used them in ages and the rubber on them is all dried up and cracked, so the wipers really aren't doing any real wiping, mostly just moving around dirt and water from one part of the wind screen to the other, while you bob and weave your head behind the steering wheel to catch that one clear spot on the screen before it moves to another location with every wipe.

And if you are lucky, you have decent wipers, or you just bought the car and wipers are still in good shape, still doesn't mean you know how to use them, so you press, push, pull, twist, stab and beat the stalk all over the place to get them working just at the right speed, and god help you if you have a vehicle with a rear window wiper, I don't think even the people who manufactured the car, know how those work!

Three : Free Water Parks

You get instant access to large water parks for free and if you are lucky, right at your door step too. If it rains long and hard enough  You can be the odd Gloomy Gus and complain about it or be the type who believes in, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. For example why put up with the worsening traffic when you can take the canoe to work instead and as an added bonus you don't have to worry about parking either.

Or if you are more of an adrenaline junkie, Try the latest in water sports, Go wake boarding right in the middle of the street  

Four : Rainy Wonderland

Dubai turns into Venice for a few days in a year, only difference is instead of romantic gondolas we still ply the water ways, which were roads just a few hours back, in our cars. Land disappears under water, making for some very stunning visuals. You could easily think this was an exotic 7 star hotel in the middle of a lake, when in reality its just another housing community off Shk Zayed Road.

Five : Intended Purpose 

People get to finally use things for the real intended purpose they were made for, well kind of. Take umbrellas for example, now you can actually use them to protect yourself from the rain instead of providing shelter from the glaring sun, hoping not get burnt to a crisp in the summer,

Many folks finally get to use their 4x4s for something other than the school run or mall crawling.

Although some people are overtly confident in the amphibious capabilities of their vehicles. Seeing cars stalled out in flooded streets becomes a added feature of Dubai. 

Sure the SLS can do 0-100 in under 4 seconds but the rains here have it beat.

Hoped you liked this short list on what is Dubai like when it rains. And as always don't forget to comment below about what you think about this piece, also share and like this post by clicking on the social media icons below and also don't forget to smash that facebook like and share button, subscribe for more regular, interesting and entertaining content from Dubai Journals.