Common cold

What is a common cold? A cold is a highly contagious virus that is spread super easily. Usually, it is mainly caused by germs spread around from telephones, pens/pencils, and physical contact with someone who has already been infected by the virus (Common Cold). Colds are prominent in areas such as school, the workplace, downtown cities, or any other place where many people inhabit (Doerr). Therefore, catching a cold can be easier than the sneeze that transmits it.  Although a simple cold is among the least serious sicknesses there are it is a worldwide illness that cannot be escaped.

Though a cold may not be a serious illness, it is very contagious. On average, the American kindergartener gets an ordinary cold up to 12 times a year, while the average adult gets a cold 2-4 times a year. Assumingly, this could be because kids are crammed into dirty schools with other sick children, and adults need to endure a hard day at work with other dirty slobs working to get their paychecks. Colds can be caused by a virus called “Rhinovirus” (Common Cold Cause).

            Because every single person gets a cold sooner or later, it’s not necessarily a big deal if you catch a cold, unless your condition worsens. For example, if you get a cold, that is no reason to miss school or work, unless if your symptoms have evolved to the point where you cannot function in your daily routine. There is technically no cure for a cold, but you can treat it just by home remedies. A great way to feel better, and try to get over a cold is drink lots of fluid, lay in bed, or take a Tylenol if you have a head ache to make it feel better, and that’s one less symptom out of the way.

Symptoms of a cold include coughing, sneezing, slight fever, sore throat, fatigue, and more (Common Cold Symptoms). The cold season is normally during the fall/winter seasons, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch a cold year around. Most people think that you get a cold from the weather, but that is semi true. During the fall and winter months, the air is usually quite dry which can cause a cold. Also, that season is when children return to school, allowing exposure to a wide variety of germs and viruses. The weather plus exposure makes the fall and winter seasons the perfect time for catching colds, along with many other illnesses that may not be as minor.

With all the ways to receive an illness, it’s no surprise how easily colds are caught. There will always be those minor setbacks in every society, and ours is the common cold. But, if left untreated, colds can lead to more serious illnesses like Influenza. So to stay safe, one must know the various places colds could be lurking. One must also be aware of the various methods to treat a cold, to prevent further contamination or growth of the illness.

Smoking 5/12/2012

Authors Note: I am writing this piece to show the audience why smoking is bad.

 

Smoking will eventually cause smokers cough. Smokers cough is when smokers have to clear the tubes in their throat and lungs. They do this by involuntarily coughing. Would you really want to inflict yourself with all these problems?

Another reason I strongly believe that smoking is a horrible habit is that it makes your hair and clothes smell, ages your skin faster than need be and it turns your teeth, tongue, fingers and finger nails yellow. Who really wants that?

Another thing that people may not realize about smoking is you can lose parts of your body! If your body looses too much oxygen to one certain part of your body you may have to have that part of your body amputated. I don’t know about you but I’d rather keep all of my body parts.

Yet another reason not to smoke is that there is one really nasty disease you can get called emphysema. What happens when you get emphysema is that you are always short of breathe, it destroys the tubes in your lungs, damages your air sacs. If you get this disease you will have it for life but stopping smoking helps. 

People say they smoke because they think it is good for stress. This has scientifically been proven wrong but smokers become affected physiologically and it makes them feel better when they have a cigarette.

Symbols from the short story “The Lottery” 5/18/2012

   

Author’s Note: I am writing this response to show you the symbols in the story “The Lottery.”

          What would you do if you won the lottery but your prize is death? Would you still play? Well in “The Lottery” the people that live in the village don’t have a choice because they’re all scared of being killed by the government. There are a lot of symbols in this story.

          One symbol in the story is the lottery. They do the lottery because it is a tradition and the winner dies. This is a twisted inhuman tradition. The person who wins gets hit in the back of the head with a big rock by their best friend so it is fast and painless.

          Another symbol is the big rock. They use a big rock because when the winner gets hit with it they die fast and painless. Also the best friend has to hit them because they would want their friend to get hit once with a big rock and die instantly instead of have the villagers throw a bunch of small rocks and the friend dies slow and painfully.

          The last symbol is the black-spotted ticket. The black-spotted ticket is the one ticket that wins but you don’t really win anything you actually lose your life. The ticket symbolizes death and a curse.

          In conclusion in the story “The Lottery” there is three major symbols. The three symbols are the lottery, the big rock, and the black-spotted ticket. The lottery symbolizes tradition. The big rock symbolizes friendship and humanity. Lastly the black-spotted ticket symbolizes death and a curse.