Contagious Mental State

Is it that your eyes always feel dirtier when Pink Eye's in season?

One of my department mates is particularly concerned about the outbreak of Conjunctivitis. If you were to listen to her long enough, I'm pretty sure she could convince you that Pink Eye is as bad as AIDS... She's terrified of it. I really had enough of her after a few days of whining and bitching about not wanted to contract the illness, and not wanting anyone with it to come near to her. Such scorn!

Anyway, I've been careful since she started panicking to keep my hands washed and away from my face as much as possible. However, late last week my left eye started to feel an atypical discomfort. As I sat at my desk at work, I avoiding the obvious urge to rub my eye to remove the discomfort. But after a few hours I'd had enough of it, and I really started to worry about whether or not I was getting sick... Had I caught it? I ran off to the bathroom, and after giving my hands two good scours, I drenched my face in water... as if to wash the Pink Eye away.

Having got back to my desk, I felt fine for a while. But after about 20 minutes, my eye was at it again. Dammit... this may be serious. Back to the bathroom I went, for the scouring and drenching routine. No avail. I gave up... But wait... how does Pink Eye feel? Does it feel? Does my eye just change colour? I really don't know!

I got home that day and over time I forgot I ever had a strange feeling in my eye. But the day's paranoia carried on from then until now. But that's not a bad thing. It's just that suddenly, ever day all day I feel like there's a tiny pebble under my eyelid that I urgently need to rub out... and every time I get close to succumbing to the need to rub, I remember that I need to keep my hands at a distance. Unfortunately, I have to remind myself of this every few minutes, because my eyes constantly feel odd.

As sure as the sun shines, the second this epidemic goes away, my eyes will feel perfectly fine. The mind's a powerful thing.