On Going Into Work Sick

I am presently home from work due to what is either the flu or a flu-like illness.  Am I going to go out of my way to find out which one it is?  Seriously?  It doesn’t matter.

What matters, at least to me, is that I broke one of my own cardinal rules yesterday.  I went into work with a fever.  I knew I was running a slight fever the night before and deliberately did not check my temperature in the morning because I knew we were short-staffed.  By the time I got home yesterday, my slight fever of 99.4°F had turned into 100.8°F.  I felt miserable and was starting to sound pleasant on the phone.  No, really.  When my voice initially gets affected by some upper respiratory tract thing, it takes on this really nice quality that I can’t recreate when I’m feeling better. 

I digress.  I’m here to discuss going in to work sick because, well, gee, they’re already down staff and they need you there.  Plus you don’t get paid if you’re not there.  No, no one said that to me except me.  Sometimes, the little voice at the back of my brain is not speaking from a place of logic and reason.

What you’re doing when you go in sick is subject those around you to what you have.  Colds and flus are passed in the air and in contact with things you are in contact with (phones, equipment, etc.).  People can sluice down every square inch of the place with disinfectant during and after your sick person is there and it still will not prevent it from potentially being passed to other workers and even the general public.

Because I recognized the risk of infection in even my earliest days of employment, I never, ever went into work with a temperature above 98.6°F.  Yes, people grumbled when they were inconvenienced by my absence, but they got over it.  I also encouraged similar behavior in my fellow employees.  Was I listened to?  Of course not.  I can’t tell you how many times people came in sick anyway.

No one, I repeat, NO ONE is indispensable.  If you take a day off, if you take a vacation, what do you think happens when you’re not there?  Answer, things continue.  People take up the slack and things continue.  Depending on the size of the business, yes, your normal contribution will likely be missed, but they’ll make do without you.  Any place that crumbles when people are absent needs an overhaul.

This flu season has been particularly brutal.  Those who say it’s because the flu shot was ineffectual aren’t seeing the real issue.  We need to work to prevent the spread.  Certainly, handwashing and proper cleaning/disinfecting play a huge part.  But, another important part of that is setting some ground rules with regard to coming to work under less than perfect health conditions.  Whether those rules are made by the employer or by self, they need to be adhered to. 

I forgot that yesterday.  That will not happen again. 

Ah-Choo, Sniffle-Snuffle

Every year about this time, I get a cold.  It’s almost like a rite of passage that must be endured in order for the immune system to handle the winter season at its best.  Once it’s over, I’m good until next year about this time.  Unfortunately, getting there is not half the fun. 

It’s starts as a sore throat which makes me sound kind of gravelly and sexy for about a day before I start making those little coughing and sniffling sounds that make anyone on the other end of a phone glad they’re not in the same room with me and those who share my space wish they were anyplace else.  Along with a head that feels like its painfully overfilled with wadded cotton, there's also lots of sneezing from a stuffy, runny nose – who would have thought that stuffy and runny could so happily coexist?  It’s the only time of the year I have to buy Kleenex in those pretty decorator boxes that don’t make me feel any better to look at or use them.  Eventually, the sneezing and clearing of throat turn to full-out coughing, and I can bark with the best of the seals – go ahead, throw me a fish.

I may or may not have body aches and a low-grade fever, although if I do, guaranteed I’m cranky, which turns to a cranky and whiny combo as the cold progresses.  No, I’m not good at being sick.  My infirmed persona is likely enough to make any prospective love of my life think twice before getting involved with me.  Okay, that’s not the only reason, but seriously, one practically needs the patience of Job for about the middle 48 hours of the total 120-150 hours that the cold runs its course.  Best bet is just to leave me alone with lots of fluids, ibuprofen, and whatever other cold symptom remedies I might need demand. 

It mercifully starts to subside around Day 4 and I’m back to being my normal sounding sweet self in no time.  I’ll even be nice and not tease those around me who are now getting sick, possibly the result of contact with me during the contagious phase which started even before the first throat tickle.

There are a number of viruses which cause the illness we call the common cold, but for some reason once I’ve had one, I seem to be stay healthy and immune from all of them for the rest of the cold and flu season.  Yes, I do get the flu shot now, but that doesn’t protect against every sniffling, sneezing, coughing, sore throat making microorganism out there.  I wash my hands, use hand sanitizer, cough and sneeze into my sleeve as much as I can, and can only hope that all those around me will do the same. 

In the meantime, I can only apologize to those who must be around me while I’m working on my one and only cold this season.  I’ll try to be good and not get on your last nerve, but remember – you’ve been warned.