Yes, of course you can.
And no, that's absurd.
Let me explain:
You can get a viral or bacterial illness ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. An ABS would be no exception.
We're talking about catching a cold here. Getting the flu. Coming into contact with bacteria that can give you an upset stomach or diarrhea. Shit like that.
Bacteria and viruses and fungi are EVERYWHERE. They are (an essential and integral) part of life on planet Earth. There's no escape, so giving up cruising venues for fear of catching a cold won't do you much good. You can get a cold while shopping at the grocery, while at work, shaking hands with a stranger, taking change from a cashier at Rite Aid, whatever...
Clearly, you already know this.
So I assume you are concerned that there is something ELSE you might get just from being inside an ABS. An STD? STDs require sex, hence the "S" part of "STD." So don't worry about that. Crabs, though not technically a disease, would be an exception, as the recent post about "brown crotch dots" will tell you. THOSE you can get from an ABS booth. Anything else... no.
Now, some ABSs are pretty filthy, with dried cum dripping from the walls of the booths and restrooms which have maybe been cleaned once in the last seven or eight years. And as a general rule, while many ABS clerks have the unwelcome task of mopping up the floors, I haven't seen too many running around with Windex cleaning off the video screens or washing down the walls with Lysol. Hopefully, your local supermarket has higher standards for cleanliness than this -- but that doesn't mean the canned goods section is free of germs -- it is not.
What is means is that an ABS MIGHT have a few more good places for germies to thrive -- so you MAY be more likely to take a few of these home with you. But you won't catch anything SERIOUS just from your presence there.
An ABS I visit in NY from time to time has an extremely horrific restroom -- we're talking feces smears, OK? I use my elbow to push the door open, I take a leak, I leave. I feel "safer" not even attempting to touch the faucet. I am quite certain my penis is FAR cleaner than anything that might be breeding and mutating on the sink! I'm better off NOT washing my hands in such a place, see what I mean?
But maybe some guy DOES touch the sink. Then he touches the doors to the booths. Then he touches the Buddy Button. Bang. Lots of nice fecal coliform bacteria there to spread around. Then YOU touch it. Maybe you later touch your mouth with your hand and the next morning you have a severe case of the trots. Or maybe nothing happens at all. You do not necessarily get sick EVERY time you come into contact with bacteria or even a virus.
Probably you are a bit more likely to catch a cold from being in an ABS as opposed to getting some groceries -- but there's nothing to be concerned with here. You aren't going to get any deadly diseases in this way. You aren't even going to get any mild diseases this way. Most likely, you won't get anything at all. The symptoms you experienced CANNOT be pinned down to any specific illness contracted at any specific location. You may have already had a bug BEFORE you went to the ABS. In fact, it is quite possible that someone else there caught the bug YOU brought in! Or not...
Don't worry about it. Worry about having safe sex. Do that, you'll be fine.
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