There's a snotty-hacking-coughing-feverish-fluish thing going around here. It's not just a common cold, either. And the cough seems to hang in and stay for weeks.
My sister, Helen had it on my mom's birthday a few weeks ago. (She's still coughing.) And then Jonathan got it. (He's still coughing.)
[Stylized Cartoon photo of Sick Jon courtesy of the coolest iPhone app ever, but that's not important right now.]
Now, we are slowly passing it around from one family member to another.
Of course, once the first person gets it, there's no amount of hand-washing and avoiding the same airspace that's going to keep the next person from getting it. And so on. And so on….
My mom suggested I use, "El Bix." That's Vicks VapoRub to you.
So I dutifully head to the drug store and choose the modern NON-GREASY version of Vicks VapoRub. Made by the same company. With the same inimitable eucalyptus fragrance.
My mom: "Eso no sirve. Tiene que ser el del pomito azul." (Loose translation: "This is worthless. It has to be the one in the little blue jar.")
I should add right here that my mom regularly purchases the Giant Industrial Size VapoRub and goes through it at an alarming rate. She uses it recreationally, slathering it on her neck and forehead every night before bed.
As a matter of fact, she credits her "Bix" for keeping her alive for all these years. My dad used to joke that she used so much VapoRub so regularly, that when she died, she wouldn't need to be embalmed. But I digress.
When I started coughing and hacking and getting the snotty-hacking-coughing-feverish-fluish thing myself, I used my VapoRub Cream. It's non-greasy, you know.
But the seeds of doubt were planted…
And so, the superstitious-do-what-your-Cuban-mother-tells-you-or-bad-things-will-happen part of my brain sent me back to the store.
I'm still recovering from the snotty-hacking-coughing-feverish-fluish thing. But now, I am using the UBER-GREASY Vicks VapoRub OINTMENT. Even the word "ointment" sounds sticky.
I can barely believe it myself.
I'm not sure it's working at all *cough, cough, hack, sniffle, a-choo!*
But I'm not taking any chances. 😉
Mami use to heat the glob up a bit with a lighter or candle, and after spreading it all over the chest, would place cotton cloth diapers over it.
I COMPLETELY agree with your mom!!! And great app! 😀
well of course this works…and yes it does have to be in the blue jar. Speaking of which, I need to go and buy more, my personal jar and the baby vicks jar is almost gone 🙂 Thanks for making me laugh out loud at work!
No, no, no. You get a big empty can of peaches (melocotones) put boiling hot water in it, throw in your blob of “vi vapo ru”, put a towel over your head (make sure it covers the can) and breathe it in 🙂
That is hilarious Marta! We use it too, but the NON-GREASY version. Some how, years ago, I was designated by my family to be the “rub on” person in my family. No one wants to have the greasy stuff on their hands, so I started to buy the non-greasy version. And it works just fine. 🙂 But last year, a really good friend of mine suggested that I rub it on the bottom of my feet and wear socks to bed when I’m sick and I will see how fast I recover. I’d never heard of this before. I haven’t done it yet, can’t really remember since it’s not common to man, LOL!! But I’ll try next time just to see if I get better quicker. LOL!!! Hope you get better soon my friend.
Vemma. Seriously, the BEST VITAMIN on the planet. I was down ONE DAY with the flu sickness thingy and my kids and Robert did NOT GET SICK AT ALL. We’ve been taking it for almost two years and have never felt better. Ever. Yes, at this point I am a rep w the company but only after a year of just taking it because it was GREAT. :o) Check out KristenBenson.net if you want to know more. If you don’t that is fine too, but I LOVE THIS STUFF and like to tell friends so they can take the most amazing vitamins on the planet too =D
wow, I had not seen Vaporub in a while. I think it it great! It is what my mother used to use for me. Saludos, Adal.
Hilarious! so darn funny, a classic post indeed – but ohmigosh what lousy timing, sorry you’re sick when I’m putting pressure on you re DVD turnaround. I take full responsibility: you recall the Odi DVD hit the same week you got called for yr 1st ever jury duty – I see a disturbing trend developing…. No doubt I’ll succumb to whatever this bug is when I see you tmrw – sigh.
As a child I used to get Vicks spread across my chest for various ailments. It was not just a Cuban thing (My mom was from Eastern Europe). My wife grew up in la Habana and Vicks “vaporú” was also the cure all for everything. Our family lives in Texas and the Vicks tradition is alive and well among Mexican-Americans who grew up in Texas.
You all made me laugh out loud with your “Bix-isms.”It may well be a universal thing!
Besos to all!
Marta
Don’t forget the pañuelito or klines (kleenex) to shield your clothing from also getting greasy. My Wela (r.i.p.) used to also stuff romero (rosemary) in rubbing alcohol and make me put that all over my chest, too. Oh, I also had to sniff it if my nose was getting stuffy. I swear my Wela invented aromatherapy.
Oh my goodness, EL BIX. Yes. And then, my grandmother would come after me with EL AFRIN. Gross.
Vicks was a staple at my house growing up. I also remember my mother giving us a glass of “jugo de remolacha” whenever we had a cold.
Of course, your mom is right – you MUST use the vi vaporu in the blue jar!
This is too funny!!! My husband uses “el bix” on my daughters all the time he sees a snooty nose and it’s el bix time!!! LOL
And my dad used to walk around with a clove of garlic pinned to the inside of his shirt.Damn Cubans! LOL
El Afrin scares me a little bit more than El Bix. I think I once traveled through time after a burst of Afrin. 😉
I’ve never had the jugo de remolacha. Was it as sweet as it sounds?Did any of this help? I wonder….
I won’t make the non-greasy mistake again….por si las moscas.
I love that this is so universally Cuban! Ha!
Hi Marta!I just started reading your blog and love it! When I got to this post about the Vicks’, I was grinning from ear to ear! This sure brought back some memories!
Although I am Irish/Scotch-English-Native American, I can attest that Vicks’ addiction may not be confined only to Cubans! Here’s what we did with Vicks whenever someone got sick in my family:
Step 1) Run to medicine cabinet for the industrial sized jar of Vicks which you buy even though you only have 2 adults and 2 children in the family. You can NEVER have enough Vicks.
Step 2) Using a q-tip, grab up a big load of Vicks and deposit enough in each nostril to cause the eyes to water when the patient breathes it up into the sinus’s, causing them to be distracted from their cold and flu misery by the sensation of inside of thier skull feeling like it is on fire. Rub a generous amount on the tip of the patients sore, chapped nose as well. Don’t worry, eventually, they will stop screaming.
Step 3) Rub enough Vicks on the patients’ chest to float a battleship. You will know if you have put on enough if you need several layers of men’s handkerchiefs to absorb it all. These can be pinned at the back of the neck with the old rusty diaper pins you have saved for just this purpose. ( We Scots never throw away anything!)
Step 4) Go and get the Vaporizer from under the bathroom sink. Add the water to the bottom. Put on the top and then take a ginormous gob of Vicks and put it on a cotton ball.(These come free with every jar of aspirin,and which you have saved in a plastic baggie with the other 50 already in there in case you ever need it.)Now, take the gob of Vicks an rub it onto the inside of the nozzle where the steam comes out of the vaporizer. Plug the machine in and crank it up as high as it will go. Be sure to place the machine close enough to the patient that a fog of Vicks-laden moisture hangs over the bed.
So there you have it. Frankly, it’s a wonder I am still alive to talk about it.
Have a great day!
Cyndy
Is that the same as a cataplasma ( my mom’s word)? She’d place one on my chest and one on my back.