Blinky the Shark wrote:
> flitterbit wrote:
>
>> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>>> I feel like shit. I may have about ten minutes, here, before I have to
>>> go back to bed. Can't sleep, but don't have the energy to do anything
>>> else, either -- not even read. (And that just kills me.) So I've been
>>> flashing back to little home remedies from growing up in the 1950s...
>>>
>>> I think sometimes Mom would give me small amounts of what I remember as
>>> a weak solution of sugar in water. Ever heard of that?
>>>
>>> Burnt Toast: I distinctly remember Mom burning a slice of toast and
>>> scraping the ashes into a glass of water. I guess this was to settle a
>>> stomach (the charcoal or whateveer) -- probably more from acid upset
>>> than from feeling urpy.
>>>
>>> Liquid Jell-O. I guess that was a variant on sugar water; it's not like
>>> there was sugar-free Jell-0 in 1953.
>>>
>>>
>> Sorry you're feeling poorly; is it some kind of flu? I had a bout of that
>> at Christmas and spent Christmas Day in bed with a fever of 102 -- such
>> fun!
>>
>> When we were little, for nausea, Mom used to give us flat gingerale, and
>> if that stayed put, a half orange to suck on. The flat gingerale may very
>> well be an analogue of your mom's sugar water remedy. For chest colds,
>> Vicks Vaporub on the back and chest.
>
> God, how I hated Vicks. Felt awful, and that tee shirt all gooey with it
> and stuck to my chest and back made it ten times as awful.
>
>
I liked it because it seemed to make it easier to breathe; I wasn't fond
of being stuck to a t-shirt either, but I suspect a lot of what it
offered was simply the feeling of being cared for.