To shake or not to shake?

I have been battling a cold for the past two weeks, and finally I am beginning to win. I can almost walk up the stairs without coughing up a storm, and I think I may try to go to the gym to do some light aerobic exercise to get my fitness regime back on track.

This cold that I have been fighting has been one of the worst in a little while. I have these coughing attacks that just come out that I can't control. These coughing attacks are especially bad in the evenings, which is quite unfortunate because that is when I participate in most of my activities: coaching, meetings, etc.

I was at church on Sunday evening, and I thought that I was doing quite well. I had taken some Dayquil (mircacle stuff...I was never a big believer in medecine, but this stuff really worked) in the morning to get me through the 2nd half of my Red Cross First Aid Course. I thought that I was actually getting better, which was true, but during mass I had to cough a lot. During mass, there is a part where you show a sign of peace and shake other people's hands. As I was coughing so much, I felt really shy to shake others' hands because I didn't want to get them sick. Yet, some people insisted and I felt very uncomfortable because I had declined shaking other people's hands. I think in the future, I am just going to not shake anyone's hands when I am sick so that I will not transmit any of my germs...