10 Signs It's Cold Season

Ill omens are all around us.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Cold season doesn’t start when you get sick. It begins with a series of subtle signs that the world around you is about to transform: the coworker who sniffles for several weeks, the neighbor whose cough sounds like a seal barking at god. And yet, seasonal illness still surprises us; we all ignore the signs it’s coming right up until our own throats start feeling weird.

Here are ten signs that cold season has arrived, even if you personally can still breathe through your nose.

1. You just ran out of sick days.

2. The hand sanitizer dispenser at work is mysteriously full for the first time all year.

3. Your snot just turned the rich, piny green of a Christmas tree.