The common cold - that sums it up, really.

Common, vulgar, nothing refined or delicate about it.

Snot and soggy tissues, a head full of cotton wool and a throat rubbed down with coarse sandpaper.

The worst of it is that there is something pathetic and whingeing about a cold. It is not life-threatening, it will be over in a week or so, it doesn't even (quite) make it impossible to carry on with everyday tasks. It is hard not to feel like a hypochondriac while sipping pathetically at hot honey and lemon, huddled in the comfort of a duvet.