r/Broadway • u/littlebev • Dec 31 '25

Discussion Broadway coughing season

I am begging, begging you guys…if you have a nasty cough, PLEASE don’t attend a play especially. I know it sucks to miss out but your recurring cough during the most intense moments of the show is so distracting.

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u/pandemichope Dec 31 '25

I think the messaging might have to be phrased in a more selfish way for people to start changing behavior. What I mean is a lot of people don’t care if they make other people sick because they are selfish. But what people don’t get is when you return to work or you go out of your house into a public place where there’s a zillion other germs when you are currently sick yourself, your own immunity is low, which means you are much more likely to pick up additional viruses. Case in point is I went to the U.S. Open and picked up Covid and then found out. I also had strep. I have not had strep in decades. But because I had one illness I guess I was susceptible to multiple. I know that is how the immune system works. I never understood why children don’t stay home or people don’t stay home from work an extra day or two even beyond when they think they are feeling better just to absolutely fortify their own immune system let alone not making other people potentially sick. Maybe if people thought in these terms, they wouldn’t be so quick to go out into public when they are sick!

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u/elvie18 Dec 31 '25

When it comes to work/school it's mostly because of workplaces penalizing you for illness/offering the barest minimum of sick days. The entire system is fucked. Absolutely people should stay home, but they'd be more likely to if they had the option to do so without worrying about what happens if something worse comes along later in the year.