Illness - but not my fault!

I woke up this morning feeling nauseous and with my head doing 360 degree turns (or was it the room?), and I thought 'what the...? I dont recall drinking last night...' or maybe that was the problem...
Actually, it turns out I had an ear infection type thing that was throwing off my sense of balance, and as a result making my stomach feel like I'd eaten a truck load of fairy floss and then had 10 consecutive rides on the Gravitron. Anyway, I called in sick at work and headed down to the doctors to get some drugs to ease the seasickness I had from sitting very still in a fetal position on the couch. As they started to take effect, and I realised I was on my own in the house with no chance of any sympathy until my flatmates returned from work, it occurred to me there is probably one thing worse than being by yourself when you are sick.
And that is, being sick for all to see.
Earlier in the week I was out at the local shops doing some shopping (as you do in shops) when I noticed, just in time, that some kid was being very sick in the middle of the aisle. I was about two inches away from being quite involved in this scenario (ie being thrown up on), but did a nice little side step that allowed me to just be an observer. As I walked away (and the kid went for a third and fourth round), I watched how everyone else was dealing with this. Wisely, most were giving this activity the very large berth it needed. The staff in the shop, however, were moving even further away as their manager appeared on the scene to reassure the boy and his father (who was doing the 'you'll be ok' pat on the back, while still keeping his feet a good metre or more from the dropzone) and started to look for someone to clean up the mess. Suddenly the shelves at the back of the shop required urgent refiling, and they all diappeared. I later spotted two of the younger staff members cleaning up the mess by getting paper towels and kicking them around the general area with their feet, while trying not to touch it in any way. In the midst of all of this was the boy looking as though the only reprieve he was getting from being embarrassed from what had just happened, was when he had to throw up again.
Remembering that, I suddenly feel a lot better.