If you walk around with rubber cement wrapped around your face you can practice social distancing by lying on the ground twitching.
I saw facemasks printed to look like the muzzles of dogs. I want a dachshund!
I could see a *single *cough being made in an effort to remind someone to back off if they’re way too close. But to fake a hacking fit is just extreme and isn’t going to just freak out the person behind you, but everyone in your general vicinity. Also, why not try actually using your words first? If it bothers you enough that you go through the effort of terrifying people, then you shouldn’t really have a problem saying, “Hey, I’m a little freaked out over this whole virus thing - mind if you stand back a few? Thanks - appreciate it!”
I used to cough to cover a fart.
Now I fart to cover a cough.
Because doing that tends to be the sort of thing that starts an angry reply from the right type of person. At least, it has in my direct experience–I asked someone if they’d move back slightly and they got very upset. To me, someone flouting social distancing rules at this point is likely to be this type of person, so I would want to avoid them getting angry and getting closer.
Plus, well, it’s just general courtesy to use body language before words, as it makes for a more smooth interaction with plausible deniability. It’s why you show with your body that you don’t want to talk before you actually flat out say “I don’t really want to talk right now.” (which similarly often leads to them trying harder to talk to you, BTW).
That said, your statement about a coughing fit vs. a quick cough is well taken. I definitely can see how a huge fit can seem more like trying to scare people into thinking you have the virus.
Also, I’ve not tried the small cough in public yet. I don’t know if it would just not work for the type of person who isn’t taking this thing seriously. I made assumptions before, but the fact that there are idiots protesting this over not being able to buy paint in a store makes me question my assumptions.
(Granted, I think that said protests are being actively encouraged by a certain political group that is preying on people, which I did not account for before. But that’s a topic for another thread.)
Not a bad idea… It seems like some people are getting close just to be rebel’s, and don’t care about putting others at risk