"This is something my Soviet family and I could never get used to in the States, the stubbornness with which Americans trudge to work or school with triple-digit fevers or noses like spigots, the obliviousness with which an American will greet you with a hug and then say, “I’m sick!,” or reach to try your drink while hacking up a lung. Come to think of it—why are they even at the bar with you? Or the way Americans cough with childlike abandon, like a sprinkler. Or sneeze like no one is watching."
This is interesting (beyond the individualism, I think that a lot has to do with not wanting to have to take sick days. There really should be unlimited sick days). I also want to talk about how he is being treated so much differently from that person at the bar who is just sneezing everywhere and people are joking that he has the flu and if we get the flu from him we will be a little irritated maybe but won't question his basic moral character.
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