In case you never heard the term ‘man flu’, it describes a man suffering from the common cold but exaggerates his symptoms and claims to have influenza’. 
The term is really often used in Ireland and UK and that only proves it was made-up purely for Sing. And my friends’ Hong Kong husbands and boyfriends.
I don’t know what it is, but it seems that more Cantonese blood runs in your man’s veins, more vulnerable he is when it comes to man flu.
Of course I don’t mean all HK men are like this, but read my whole post and say you don’t see any similarities!
Sing doesn’t get sick very often, but once he does you can hear him saying ‘The
end is near’ and ‘Don’t let me walk towards the light’. From a big barking dog he changes into little puppy that needs treats and belly rubs. Just look at the featured image of this post, can’t you see all the pain?!
Now he is also under a lot of pain from wisdom teeth extraction and can only eat liquids/soft food. You can only imagine how a hungry man in pain can be grumpy.
It always starts the same…
- First, he will talk less but when he talks, he will mention that he ‘doesn’t feel well’, ‘maybe I should rest a bit’, ‘can I get a bubble bath’. Some sniffles may occur at this stage.
- Secondly, he will move in a weird way, touching the ‘booboos’ (not boobs) and make sure that I see how much he suffers.
- Once the fact of being pain is acknowledge by me,
he will seek a confirmation of how serious his state is and that no one ever suffered as much as he did. - Later on, he will seek attention and affection. Hugs and belly rubs and mandatory at this stage, that is the only things that still keeps him alive. Sometimes he will copy Biscuit’s behavior in order to get some affection from her as well.
- THE APPETITE. At the beginning he will annoy the crap out of me saying ‘Why did you cook so much, you know I’m in pain, I have no appetite’ to suddenly change into ‘I’m so hungry. Soup again? There’s no rice there, I’m so hungry. Soup is not a meal if I can drink it’. The closest I got to a chicken soup when I was sick was a KFC bucket.
- ‘Can you check this?’ – whatever is the cause of pain, I will have to look at it. Doesn’t matter if it’s sore throat or a hole in your gums after teeth extraction. Someone has to monitor the state of poor patient.
- Drama time. The moment he sneezes or coughs for the first time is the beginning of the end. From that point the only thing left to do is pray to God to take him away from the pain.
He will send text messages to our coworkers to take care of me and make sure there will be someone to take me to work. Then he will ask 58435320384023584351 times if someone at work asked about his state. And if I described it correctly as the most serious case of man flu ever.
But don’t worry, there’s always a way to cope with the poor sick man.
- Always bed prepared –
have cold medicine hidden in your drawer, some lemons in the fridge, honey on your shelf. That will make your man feel more confident about the caregiver. Not as good as Momzilla’s salmon head tofu soup, but that will do. I guess. - Empathy. Be sure to remind him how much you want him to get better. For your own sake, not for his.
- Warm blankets and fluffy pillows. Sing thinks that all the pillows I buy are decorative waste of money, but guess who sleeps on a cloud made out of those pillows? Add some snuggles for faster relief.
- It is said in Poland that if you want to cure a cold, ekhm man flu, you should drink a shot of vodka with lots of black pepper inside. No real man can resist alcohol, it warms better than any chicken soup.
- Stop giving him ‘Are you serious?’ look. In his mind he is nearly dead, he wouldn’t want the last thing he sees to be your angry face.
It only stresses him out and make matters worse. That may cause the case of man flu to last longer. YOU DO NOT WANT IT. Think of yourself as a lotus flower on a calm lake. And maybe drink some sangria before any
conversation with your significant other. - Come to realization that your man will always be this way and just accept that fact. At least I have a baby-substitute until we have our own child.
- Once he recovers make sure he gets a ‘Man flu survival kit’ or at least a lollipop and ‘Brave patient’ sticker.
So how many of you can relate? I don’t mean to make fun of anyone, as we all suffer differently and our immune systems are different, but I needed to write this post about Sing or else I would kill him if he complains how hungry he is and that soup is not a meal!
Let us know how your men handle ‘the man flu’! Or maybe is there something like ‘female flu’? I’m so curious about your take on this topic!
Oh I know this 😉 Seems to be an international thing somehow and is widely known in Germany as well 🙂
I tend to make a lot of tea, get biscuits and stuff and maybe cook something small for my bf…
LikeLike
The manliest of men 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Be sure to remind him how much you want him to get better. For your own sake, not for his.” ROTFL Yes, yes, a nice way to spin the inevitable sympathy.
Andy doesn’t whine, moan, or expect sympathy, though. He just goes to bed and does nothing. NOTHING. He has to take care of himself, you know, and it’s all me for the cats, the dogs, the yard, the house, HIS PARENTS. Not going to say which is the worst. I am sure you can guess.
LikeLike
Those capital letters didn’t suggest anything haha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hilarious! You really are a good writer of comedy. I belly laughed over this one: “The closest I got to a chicken soup when I was sick was a KFC bucket.”
LikeLike
Everyone besides me did haha but I’m glad you like it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Guilty as charged
LikeLike
At least one brave enough to admit it haha!
LikeLike
I can’t relate at all with this post. I haven’t ever had that close of a bond or relationship with anyone. That being said this was the most adorable post ever. It reminded me of a scene from my K- dramas.
LikeLike
I wish you all the best including never going into the man flu survivor nurse as it can be super annoying ha ha
LikeLike
I have nursed my dog Marshmallow and he has shown the same spa toms that you mentioned.
LikeLike
what a cute name for a puppy!
LikeLike
His brother is named Popcorn.
LikeLike
My husband almost never gets sick, so I have yet to deal with the man flu (yay!). When I get sick, IF he catches the illness (one time so far), it’s while I am also sick, and we take care of ourselves, sleep, and ignore each other.
I imagine when your husband is sick your home is quiet like a hospital so that he can recover from his man flu! I have heard about man flu in American men, but I am surprised it is so widespread amongst Hong Kong men too!
LikeLike
It’s contagious! But at least it doesn’t affect women haha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yeah, man flu is an international thing, especially if it is during the working week. XD
LikeLike
My workaholic wanted to send out a report during his absence but I told him if I see any work related emails going around the nursing will finish haha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, that’s good incentive. XD
It’s a Hongkie mentality to work through even if you are sick, but it’s important to take rest.
LikeLike
he had enough of rest, hopefully haha 🙂
LikeLike
I can relate to the warm and fluffy pillows. The more, the better and the more I feel relaxed. Also am excuse to buy a new pillow 😀
LikeLike
I should have used this excuse!
LikeLiked by 1 person
But… but but but… but he’s right! Soup is not a meal! At most it is just an appetizer! That’s why in restaurants menus soups are placed under Appetizer section. 😀
LikeLike
But I put so many things inside the soup so it’s not just water! I was peeling potatoes at 7 am for him 😀
LikeLike
I think the man flu is pretty international 😀 Can you imagine if men had periods like women? It would be terrifying…
LikeLike
I think Sing would cut of his manly parts 😀 he has low tolerance for pain 😀
LikeLike
Agree on everything!
LikeLike
high five 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
My husband is really brave 🙂 when he has flu he doesnt want to hear about doctor, so i try to push him for take some medicine which we have in home (and i have lernt i always must be ready for everything), drink a lot of tea (he drinka lot of tea everyday, but when he is sick i must make tea soup:D) and of course he need a lot of sleep, but… I have to lay with him and hug him like small baby:) no matter how sick he is, he always go to job. But when I am sick, my stomach pain he panic a lot, and he always wants to bring me to hospital. 😀
LikeLike
you can use it against him next time he gets sick! he needs to rest!
LikeLike
Haha sounds funny. Usually when I get ill it also hits me hard but when I realize that something ain’t right I take some medication, go to bed and cover myself under three blankets to sweat it out…in good cases I am done with the whole thing next day at bad times it may take a week of suffering and annoyance for my wife 😀
LikeLike
she has two babies then haha 🙂
LikeLike
I agree with the comment above that man-flu is most definitely international! In India my other half goes to the doctor and eats half a tub of septillin (Indian herbal remedy) at a sniff of a cold. Being in a long distance relationship does save me from some of the hardships of being nursemaid but not from the moaning and complaining! Being far away in another country it is hard to judge the severity of the illness so I just have to take his word for it that it is the worst fever ever!… I also recommend alcohol (for both parties)!
LikeLike
well, you still have to show compassion over distance which might be much harder than being a nurse at the spot!
LikeLike
Rice porridge is a great way to pamper Chinese men having man flu. You can make plain rice porridge with pork floss, chicken rice porridge with tomato, carrot and potato or pork rice porridge with dried scallops and dried oyster. These are soft enough to be eaten even after wisdom teeth extractions.
LikeLike
I made two different congees -plain one and one based on the chicken soup but hubby said he cannot even look at it anymore haha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, he doesn’t have much choice since he can’t eat hard solid food 😛 Yoghurt with blended fruits are great for breakfasts/snacks. Crème brulee/custard puddings/jellies are good as snacks too. Another recipe for congee is fish slices, ginger slices, scallions and sesame seed oil. I think he could be missing fish. Steam fish is also soft enough for him. Steam tofu with some scallions, garlic infused oil and kombu tsuyu (Japanese soy sauce with infused kelp and bonito flakes) is yummy. Get well soon! 🙂
LikeLike
Man flu is quite serious actually.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3708472/Father-two-feet-right-hand-amputated-going-hospital-suspected-MAN-FLU.html
LikeLike
do not show it to Sing under any circumstances haha
LikeLike
Hmm… I know I’m not like that, but I did know someone from HK who was like that. I wrote about it in my blog.
https://beyondelittlereddot.com/2015/01/24/the-misadventures-of-a-business-traveler/
LikeLike
So funny (as per usual)…. and sooooo true! I don’t know what it is about males and illness but when my hubby falls ill, he falls super fast but then bounces back to perfect health by the next morning. I know it’s serious if this rebound doesn’t happen. I hate it when hubby is sick! Not because of him being sick but then I have to do everything myself. ;P I like that Sing asks you to confirm that his coworkers are concerned about him and imitates Biscuit for more love. That’s a lot of effort to make when you’re sick. eh? ;D
LikeLike
LOL 🙂
LikeLike
My hubster has just come down with TMF (Turkish Man Flu) a similar condition. There is also the lesser known condition of Mumfluenza which is generally only contracted by women but they just soldier through the illness and get shit done.
https://janeyinmersin.com/2017/02/09/public-service-announcement/
LikeLike