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I was sitting on a table in the lunch room when I started coughing, which to my utter embarrassment resulted in a disgusting sound. Unfortunately, there were other colleagues having lunch near me, who expressed their disapproval by starring at me angrily. I was so embarrassed I couldn't even apologize.

I don't want to come off as impolite to my coworkers. Should I apologize next time I meet them or just let the incident be forgotten?

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    these days i do have influenza after i done with my lunch i was coughing and that result with i giggling and that was sound bad actually that seems like disgusting to some one else. I feel really embarrassing right now.
    – Tharani
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 9:56
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    I don't understand at all what is asked and what is explained (note that English is not my mother tongue so it is even harder). Can you make more concise sentences explaining : what really happened when you sneeze, what was your exact reaction, what made you embarrassed and what did your colleague really told you ?
    – Valrog
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 10:13
  • Your question is somewhat unclear. I get that you coughed at the dining table and (presumably) the mucus fell into other people's lunch. Are you saying that after this happened, you giggled instead of apologizing?
    – Masked Man
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 10:25
  • i am really sorry its not giggling its gurgling and what happen was i realize i am in the lunch room after i gurgle then people were staring at me and did not say anything to me but they were talking and staring at me with angry faces. @MaskedMan i did not do anything to some one else lunch but its all about sound i made
    – Tharani
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 11:04
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    By gurgling do you mean you burped?
    – FunnyJava
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 11:29

2 Answers 2

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Learn from this and try to be more professional in future. People will see that you're embarrassed by this, so you won't need to apologize.

Move onwards from this, and if you cough out loud like this in future, apologize at that point.

If you have influenza at work, you should really take steps to prevent other people from catching it also (cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, wash hands frequently, etc.).

I think people are more concerned about you spreading germs than politeness.

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  • I did it i did cover my mouth thanks for responding i will be careful in the future.
    – Tharani
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 10:09
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    @Tharani, If you did cover your mouth, then that's fine. Like LaughU said, it would have been better if you had taken the day off, of course. But otherwise, you did fine. And don't worry, like Snow said, your body language betrayed your embarrassment, there is no need to worry about that part.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 11:04
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I would go a step further than from Snow proposed.

For this incident, you cant change much anymore. Therefore be prepared in the future.

The simplest solution just might be to stay at home. Coming in sick does more harm than good (see this article from forbes and this one from a German newspaper(text in German) with the primary source here )

To sum it up:

  • If you are coughing or sneezing you are contagious
  • You are more likely to make mistakes
  • If you don't rest you could be sick longer and therefore even less productive
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  • Okay i will thank you for responding and about people they will eventually forget right?
    – Tharani
    Commented Jun 29, 2018 at 11:08

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