I have the sniffles.

I think the sniffles are worse than a full-blown cold or actual sickness. When you’re actually sick, you can take a day off of work and sleep in and eat soup while watching daytime television. Your body may not be very functional, but you know you’re on the way to recovery.

Of course, being entirely healthy is the best option. But the sniffles? They’re just enough to be annoying without being bothersome enough to take solid action. You feel just a bit off and don’t quite know which direction you’re headed. Am I going to get sicker? Or will this just pass in a day or so, like it has so many times before?

It’s kind of like the weather. I enjoy the weather most when it’s bright and sunny and there’s not a cloud in the sky. That’s a great day. But if it’s going to rain or snow, I want it to pour and thunderstorm or blizzard (as long as I’m inside, making soup and watching daytime television). I don’t want some weak drizzle or slushy mess on the road.

That’s what the sniffles are. A slushy mess.