Any woman, who has ever lived a man, understands the difference between a female cold and a male cold. In short, women’s colds are not debilitating. Women can not take to their beds and wallow in runny noses, achy backs, copious coughs, fevers, and chills. Women must make the kids’ lunches, take them to school, go to work, help with after school activities, cook dinner, put the kids to bed, and finally, sit down and drink a hot toddy to soothe their raspy throats.

Men, in contrast, experience debilitating colds. Even though, they manage to attract a cold each winter, each winter they suffer The Worst Cold, they’ve ever had! They are incapable of retrieving a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator or pulling Kleenex from the box. Yet, they are adept at commands, like “Please bring me the cough syrup” or “I need another blanket.” As far as work goes, no way. And the kids, no way.

After years of using Men’s vs. Women’s colds as an writing prompt in 101 English Class, this week I contracted a Man’s Cold. Fortunately, I’ve no children at home. It was just the dogs and me, but admittedly it zapped all my energy just to feed the dogs. Thankfully, I had no job and had no “must-dos” on my calendar, so I did nothing except watch Christmas movies and eat soup.

I shall not make fun of The Man Cold again…. Doubtful.