Rant!! (Fair warning!)

[morningstar]

Okay, I need to rant a little bit. We have a small team of employees here - 4 people. My stupid co-worker came to work really sick two days in a row. My boss told him to go home the first day because he was so sick. He didn't. Then he came in the next day. All of us told him to go home. Finally, he did at lunchtime. So today, my other co-worker gets sick from the same thing. I tell her to go home. She left at lunchtime. So now, a little later on today, I am getting sick from the same thing! I can't afford to be sick - not only am I too busy, but I am still getting over shingles and my body's immune system has already taken a huge hit. I don't even know what the virus is, but it seems to incorporate a huge headache, sore throat and severe chest congestion.

If he had just stayed home when he first felt sick, probably the rest of us would be fine. I can't say this enough-

IF YOU'RE SICK, STAY HOME! WE DON'T WANT WHAT YOU HAVE!!!!!!!!!

I know some people are afraid that others will think they are lazy or not really sick if they call in, but I think that coming to work and infecting other people shows a tremendous disregard for your co-workers' well-being. I am really really angry that he did that.

 

[NY25]

I agree totally. The boss should have forced him to go. When he's in and you're sneezing and coughing away, I would totally say something like, "I am so angry I am sick and feel like crap; I wonder how this happened, Bob!" Call him out.

 

[morningstar]

And you know, I have to cover for everyone that has gone home, so not only can I not go home sick, I have to stay late because I'm the last one standing! My boss is gone all day tomorrow, I don't know what we'll do if none of us are well enough to come to work. Guess I'd better double-dose on Cold-Fx tonight. Bloody hell!

 

[ImFiddY]

I hear ya, I work in a tiny office where people come in to pay their rent. Well they come in and sneeze and cough and then hand me money. Ewwwww. One guy came in and handed me money and then told me he was suffering from hoof & mouth disease, I ran for the clorox after he left.

 

[LaughingWater]

Oh God, I hate that. I hope you're able to fight it off.

From work to classes to kid and adult functions ~ there's no way around it. We get exposed to all kinds of stuff. Blech.

I try to make sure I get enough sleep. That seems to be the one thing that makes a big difference. So...go to bed! Sending you healing ~ vibes ~.

One guy came in and handed me money and then told me he was suffering from hoof & mouth disease, I ran for the clorox after he left.

Aaaack!!!

 

[pixiesis]

Wow. That sucks! I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, and I also heard that shingles is a nightmare. Maybe you can figure out a way to stay home tomorrow? I think you really should.

Amy

 

[michefit]

Okay, I need to rant a little bit. We have a small team of employees here - 4 people. My stupid co-worker came to work really sick two days in a row. My boss told him to go home the first day because he was so sick. He didn't. Then he came in the next day. All of us told him to go home. Finally, he did at lunchtime. So today, my other co-worker gets sick from the same thing. I tell her to go home. She left at lunchtime. So now, a little later on today, I am getting sick from the same thing! I can't afford to be sick - not only am I too busy, but I am still getting over shingles and my body's immune system has already taken a huge hit. I don't even know what the virus is, but it seems to incorporate a huge headache, sore throat and severe chest congestion.

If he had just stayed home when he first felt sick, probably the rest of us would be fine. I can't say this enough-

IF YOU'RE SICK, STAY HOME! WE DON'T WANT WHAT YOU HAVE!!!!!!!!!

I know some people are afraid that others will think they are lazy or not really sick if they call in, but I think that coming to work and infecting other people shows a tremendous disregard for your co-workers' well-being. I am really really angry that he did that.

Totally agree!
It really annoys me when people have such "heroic" attitudes about coming into work sick. I am not impressed by people who assume that it is a weakness to take a day off work to get better - or frown on others for doing so. There is more to life than work- and getting better and having a quality of life (if you can afford to do so!) are some of them!

 

[jonahnah]

Totally agree!
It really annoys me when people have such "heroic" attitudes about coming into work sick. I am not impressed by people who assume that it is a weakness to take a day off work to get better - or frown on others for doing so. There is more to life than work- and getting better and having a quality of life (if you can afford to do so!) are some of them!

ITA!! Same thing w/ parents who send their feverish, hacking, wheezing kids to school to infect everyone else--ugh!

Morningstar--((((((hugs)))))) to you for being stuck as the last one standing and for having to deal w/ shingles. I hope you're able to get some rest soon after you mainline vitamin C, zinc, and whatever else you can think of!

 

[chefkate]

jonahnah, the kids that come sick are the same ones who get the perfect attendance award....while our kids had to stay home cause the perfect-attendance kid got OURS sick!!!

 

[RapidBreath]

People do it all the time!

When I was working at a theme park I got sick because people wouldn't waste the money they spent on a vacation. I could understand it. But, if you knew the things I had to clean up you would wonder, just how much fun were they having anyway? And, did they survive the trip home? I am not so sure that they did. Incidentally, I was working custodial. I saw everything.

Unfortunately, that also meant I was exposed to very nasty and dangerous viruses that would come into the country with tourists. I nearly died from one of those. As it turned out, a lot of people got sick that morning.

 

[jonahnah]

jonahnah, the kids that come sick are the same ones who get the perfect attendance award....while our kids had to stay home cause the perfect-attendance kid got OURS sick!!!

OMG! I didn't even think of that!

 

[chefkate]

OMG! I didn't even think of that!

when i see those kids get awards i dont think "what an awesome kid"....i think "what a horrible mom!"

sooooo sorry if any moms w/ perfect-attendance kids are reading this!

but cmon! your kid was never sick....ever.....!!!??

 

[Afreet]

This exact same thing just happened in my workplace.

And now, the originator of the hideous two-week cold from last month is sick AGAIN, and is back in the office AGAIN, and I almost snapped at her today because she was supposed to work with ME all day, and showed up all drippy and miserable.

I told her to go home and postponed our project because I didn't want to get sick. Again.

Dang!!

 

[Govtgirl]

I especially hate it when people that come in sneezing and hacking have talked about taking sick days like they were vacation, and that's why now they don't have any more days to take for when they're really sick !

I hope my coworkers aren't mad at me; I've been out sick for 5 days, and came back today with all symptoms gone except for just one of those "tickle" coughs...you know, your throat gets dry and then you're off on a coughing spree, but not one of those iccky hacking kinds. I came right out today and told someone "I am NOT contagious, it is just a dry throat, I wouldn't come in all germy and do that to you guys!"

But, I knew I was over the cold, and I had a deadline to get out. There it is.

 

[Govtgirl]

when i see those kids get awards i dont think "what an awesome kid"....i think "what a horrible mom!"

sooooo sorry if any moms w/ perfect-attendance kids are reading this!

but cmon! your kid was never sick....ever.....!!!??

I overheard two of my coworkers today talking about missing work because their kids were sick, and one said she had heard of this "sick kid daycare" where you could drop off your sick kids and still go to work. She and the other guy thoguht it was a great idea.

I'm sorry, but I know that when I was sick these past few days, all I wanted was to be home in my own bed, with my own blanket and a bowl of tomato soup, not in some sterile nurse's office. These 2 people don't HAVE to work, they have very lavish 2-income lifestyles that they didn't want to give up. At the expense of their kids.

Sorry, there's my rant.

 

[MCunningham]

Not to downplay the truth of what you all are saying, but keep in mind not everyone gets paid sick leave (I'm one of them) and I only get 10 days of paid vacation a year. So that means if I get a cold I'm supposed to use up 3-4 days of that small amount every time I get sick out of respect for my coworkers who DO get paid sick leave (I'm a DoD contractor-- no sick leave-- who works with government employees who get quite a bit of sick leave)? I don't really feel that badly for going in sick. I do it because I have to. If I get them sick, at least they can stay home and recuperate for as many days as they need to; I simply don't have that luxury.

If I got paid sick leave, I would totally stay home every time I got sick and get over it. I'm not trying to be heroic in any way. But I'm not wasting my precious few vacation days on a cold. I know that stinks, but that's how I see it.

MC

 

[morningstar]

Not to downplay the truth of what you all are saying, but keep in mind not everyone gets paid sick leave (I'm one of them) and I only get 10 days of paid vacation a year. So that means if I get a cold I'm supposed to use up 3-4 days of that small amount every time I get sick out of respect for my coworkers who DO get paid sick leave (I'm a DoD contractor-- no sick leave-- who works with government employees who get quite a bit of sick leave)? I don't really feel that badly for going in sick. I do it because I have to. If I get them sick, at least they can stay home and recuperate for as many days as they need to; I simply don't have that luxury.

If I got paid sick leave, I would totally stay home every time I got sick and get over it. I'm not trying to be heroic in any way. But I'm not wasting my precious few vacation days on a cold. I know that stinks, but that's how I see it.

MC

It's not about people being able to stay home and recuperate- you are getting people SICK! If someone has a compromised immune system, you are playing dangerous games with their health. Even if they have a great immune system, you are making other people feel like CRAP!

 

[Afreet]

Not to downplay the truth of what you all are saying, but keep in mind not everyone gets paid sick leave (I'm one of them) and I only get 10 days of paid vacation a year. So that means if I get a cold I'm supposed to use up 3-4 days of that small amount every time I get sick out of respect for my coworkers who DO get paid sick leave (I'm a DoD contractor-- no sick leave-- who works with government employees who get quite a bit of sick leave)? I don't really feel that badly for going in sick. I do it because I have to. If I get them sick, at least they can stay home and recuperate for as many days as they need to; I simply don't have that luxury.

If I got paid sick leave, I would totally stay home every time I got sick and get over it. I'm not trying to be heroic in any way. But I'm not wasting my precious few vacation days on a cold. I know that stinks, but that's how I see it.

MC

I know - I used to work a retail-food-service-type job, and I really had no options. Missing one day of work was a financial emergency; missing two could easily become a financial catastrophe. Plus, my employers seldom "permitted" unscheduled leave, even for illness. In those cases, I don't blame the sick employees, I blame the system, or society, or something! I mean, think about it: I worked a food service job! I had a contagious illness, and there was simply no way, financially or otherwise, that I could afford to stay home. So I infected not only my co-workers, but our customers as well.

I just get mad at my fellow employees now that I KNOW we have liberal amounts of sick leave and nobody wants to "waste it" being sick. So they make everyone else sick. It's just so selfish!

 

[cakebaker]

No paid sick days either

Not to downplay the truth of what you all are saying, but keep in mind not everyone gets paid sick leave (I'm one of them) and I only get 10 days of paid vacation a year. So that means if I get a cold I'm supposed to use up 3-4 days of that small amount every time I get sick out of respect for my coworkers who DO get paid sick leave (I'm a DoD contractor-- no sick leave-- who works with government employees who get quite a bit of sick leave)? I don't really feel that badly for going in sick. I do it because I have to. If I get them sick, at least they can stay home and recuperate for as many days as they need to; I simply don't have that luxury.

If I got paid sick leave, I would totally stay home every time I got sick and get over it. I'm not trying to be heroic in any way. But I'm not wasting my precious few vacation days on a cold. I know that stinks, but that's how I see it.

MC

Gotta agree with this post - I don't have sick days on my job, so I have to take vacation days when I get sick. Sorry, sometimes it just can't be avoided.

 

[MCunningham]

Well, like I said, it's not that I don't completely agree that it is a crappy situation, but then blame the employers who don't provide any sick leave. I don't think it's exactly fair to blame the employee who has no choice in the matter; if given paid sick leave, I'm sure EVERYONE would rather stay home and recuperate. (And I don't work with anyone who has a compromised immune system, so that isn't an issue in my office.)

MC