"Hey, do you have any cough drops? If so, could you bring me a few?" It was only 6:29AM, but I knew my teacher friends would be up already. I had been awake coughing in the night, and while I doubted it would be as bad during the day, I didn't want to risk it.

I copied the message I'd just sent to Teacher J and then pasted it to Teachers A and K.

Hopefully a couple of them would see the message and at least one would have some. I added "cough drops" to my meals and shopping notebook (yes, on real paper!) in the kitchen drawer. I feel like this happened last year too! Someone must have helped me through that cough and I'd still forgotten to replenish.

By the time I was heading out the door, after a shower, some bagels with almond butter, and doing Little L's half-pigtails – her signature kindergarten style, not to be confused with the single half-pony style she wore in preschool – I glanced at my phone, and all three of them had replied.

Teacher J, 6:29AM: "I will check! I'll bring some if I have some."

Teacher K, 6:41AM: "I may have some in my desk!"

Teacher A, 6:45AM: "I went to the pharmacy yesterday and forgot to buy cough drops. I'll bring the five or so I have!"

Well. It looked like I was going to have plenty of cough drops – let's hope this coughing fit lasts.

I just read in The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz that having a "best friend at work" is a correlated with higher engagement at work. The effect is bigger for women, who are twice as likely to be engaged in their jobs if they strongly agree that they have a best friend at work.

That's no surprise, I guess. Why does Little L love school? She gets to see her friends! When I first taught kindergarten, my teammate and I were so close that I spent a week with her and her family at her cabin. These days, I have a handful of close friends at work. Since I work part-time, I look forward to seeing them on my work days. Plus, they all have cough drops, and they're willing to share.

When I got to work this fateful Wednesday, I sat down to check my email. Within minutes, Teacher A walked in with a bag of cough drops. "I"m sorry I don't have more," she said, handing me the very end of her cough drop supply.

Twenty minutes later, I was standing near the front of the school to welcome students. Teacher K walked by and handed me a handful of mint lifesavers. A morning treat for me? How nice! "I don't have any cough drops," she explained. "But you could use these." How could I say no to lifesavers? Hopefully the cough would continue throughout the day.

After the kids were all through the front doors, I went to fill up my water bottle and stopped by Teacher J's room to say hi. "Oh, hey!" he said, walking over to his backpack. He unzipped it and pulled out a fresh bag of cough drops. "You can have as many as you want."

At this point, it would have been rude to refuse. "I'll just take a few," I said, ripping the bag open. "Teacher A and Teacher K brought me some too." But then I remembered, I had been coughing a lot overnight, and I wasn't going to be getting to the store after work today. I grabbed a handful.

The week went on. I used some drops and mints, but my cough got better before I could use them all. I kept the extras in my desk drawer at work and a few in my nightstand at home. Next time I went shopping, I bought a new bag of drops. I considered: Should I hand the drops out to my work friends to thank them for their generosity? But then if I repaid all the drops, I might be running low on my own bag and need to ask them for more next time. I kept my bag in tact at home in the cabinet.

And then one morning last week as I was brushing my teeth, I noticed a text:

Teacher A, 6:29AM: "You wouldn't happen to have a few cough drops around, would you?"

Oh, but I would!

When I got to work, I went into Teacher A's room and laid a few on her desk. I was glad to be able to repay the favor.

Teacher A was very grateful, and I felt happy that I could help. I still had some of the cough drops she'd given me in my desk drawer. I considered just returning those same drops, but I liked the nicely trimmed bag and also, this was about sharing, right?

Indeed it was. The next day, Teacher A invited me into her room and pulled out a brand new bag of cough drops. "Here, let me pay you back!" I certainly didn't need any more cough drops – I had leftovers from when I had over sourced from friends, plus I had a mostly-full bag of my own.

But.

She really wanted to give me the drops. And if I took them, I would definitely have enough drops that next time she, or Teacher K, or Teacher J, or all of them, or anyone else needed some, I'd have some to share.

I accepted the drops and stashed them away in my growing collection. I thought of distributing some to Teacher J and Teacher K since I now had so many, but I could see this was a never-ending spiral.

Instead, I smiled to myself, and yes, maybe laughed out loud too. I am grateful: for all the cough drops that were bestowed upon me, and for having work friends to ask in the first place.

*Cough, cough*