Things to do when you are sick

I am at home sick today.

Urgh.

It used to be that I get sick once a year and would last for maybe 2-3 days. Now, it's 2-3 times a year and lasts about a week. I've had this cold since Thursday, been on call with a cold, had a clinic with a cold and the lack of rest has resulted in a temperature of 38 last night.

Double urgh.

Anyway, I was feeling sorry for myself this morning and ended up watching Oprah. She was having a 'Pay It Forward' campaign where she gave everyone $1000 and urged them to give it away. So this morning's show was about what everyone did with their money.

One story had me sobbing like a kid. There's just something about seeing people do good or animals that turn me to jelly.

One member of the audience advertised in a local newspaper asking people to write in and nominate someone whom they thought deserved the money.

So one first grade teacher wrote in about Alferd (yes, his name is spelt that way), who is 68 and comes to her class. Yes, Alferd is the oldest student in her class.

Alferd is the oldest of his 9 siblings and he never went to school because he had to take care of his brothers and sisters. So, at 68, he decided that he wanted to learn to read. Now he can read first grade books.

So this teacher's letter won and they used the money to buy Alferd books so that he could read to his heart's content.

I've always thought that we tend to take things for granted. Being able to read, ride an escalator, order KFC without looking at the menu, having a colour TV - but here is a 68 year old who could have easily gone through his golden years not being able to read (he has gone through 7 decades safely without the ability) yet he took the effort to approach someone and asked to be taught.

That put my flu into perspective, somehow.