The Pink Shoe Diaries

I think there should be some kind of catch phrase you say after someone coughs.

You know like how when someone sneezes the cool thing to do is say "Bless you" or God Bless You" (or "Salute" if you are my mother")? This is done, according to my knowledgable friend Wikipedia.com, because "When someone sneezed (seen as the initial onset of the (Black)plague), they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not actually develop the disease"

Well, I think a cough is much more indicative of poor health than a sneeze. My allergies were out of control yesterday and while I appreciated the whole Bless You sentiment, even though after your twentieth sneeze and twentieth "Bless you!", it starts to sound the teeniest bit trite.

But you know when I had bronchitis and was coughing up a black lung everywhere no one gave a crap. I didn't so much get blessings as dirty looks that said "Go home, invalid". And the sympathetic folks were less "Bless you" and more like "Oooh that sucks".

So I offer that as the universal response to coughs from here on out. It emotes some compassion, since you are taking note of the sucky element inherent to coughing. And I think the "ooh" really adds a sympathetic twist to the whole thing.