[Julie]

Okay, this is something that I just can't get over. We went to my sister's house for Christmas Eve dinner. When we got there, her husband was bundled up on the couch in a sleeping bag. Ramna said he had a little cold and was just cold cuz she'd turned down the heat so it wasn't so hot with all of us in there. Well, it soon became obvious that it was much worse. My husband told me that Kenny was so hot, that he could feel the heat coming off of him. At one point he asked Ramona if she had taken Kenny's temperature. Then on Christmas Day, she called me and was livid that her SIL had uninvited them to her house because of Kenny being sick. They have a son with Asthma so bad that he has actually been in an ambulance more than my Michael.

Now I just called her and she had to take Kenny to the ER last night because he was so sick. He has the flu...duh! I asked why she wasn't at home taking care of him and she said..."he's at work." OMG Now he's there infecting all his employees.

Okay, now Kenny's parents were there and are both pushing 80. I have heart problems and this is the first time in years I haven't had a flu shot. Michael has seizures and high fever is a big no no as it lowers the seizure threshold. Efren is desperately out job seeking as he will be unemployed in three days; I don't think potential emplyers will want a feverish, coughing man sitting across from them. Robert...I don't want him sick either.

Trust me if she had called us and said, "Kenny's sick, do you guys still want to come?" I would have told her no for the above reasons. I love her, but I didn't want my whole family infected with the flu and I'm sure my little sister feels the same way. Dang if any of us get sick, I'm going to scream!

Okay rant over.

[Julie]

I'm sorry, I forgot to add that I used to work with this girl that showed up sick all the time at the office. Though I have no proof of this, I've been convinced for years that the case of rheumatic fever she shared is what damaged my heart in the first place.

The other is parents sending sick kids to school. Robert in 4th grade ended up with Scarlett Fever after a parent brought an infected baby brother to school to help out with the Christmas party. In 5th grade the girl that sat in front of him who had perfect attendance came to school with a stomach virus and actually threw up on Robert. He ended up bursting a blood vessel in his eye throwing up.

I'll just say rant temporarily over for now.

[jingle]

Oh, what a horrifying "rant"!! The flu is SO contagious it's almost bound to spread from that exposure, isn't it?
But, let's hope and pray it doesn't. Maybe we'll see a small Christmas miracle.
Best wishes (((Julie)))

[Lara]

The first time I ever went to Japan, I was surprised to see many people walking around with face masks over their mouth and nose. This was before I had children so we're going back almost 20 years now, long before some of the really scary issues of more recent times. Anyway, it turned out that they were just being considerate of other people when they had a cold or the 'flu.

My son was very ill after a Strep. related illness when he was a little boy and I talked to the school nurse about being informed if there were any reported cases of Strep. throat etc. in the school. It was a smallish school, and everyone from preschool to year 12 mixed quite closely at assembly and other places like the library.

The main problem was that parents were sending their children to school knowing they had certain illnesses and not notifying the school even if they were away for a day with something infectious. I remember a child in my daughter's year 3 class had whooping cough and was at school. I know that there is a time limit on some of these infectious illnesses, but honestly I was shocked many times when I saw the way some children looked when they were at school. Even things like Impetigo (school sores) are highly contageous and can be dangerous. I remember when chicken pox was spreading like wildfire through my son's preschool class. I'm sorry, but I didn't want my children to get chicken pox. The general concensus with most of the other adults there was that it was good to get it, 'cause then it's over and done with.

I totally understand that a lot of those parents both worked, but I don't understand sending a child to school who is ill like that, or still in an infectious stage and likely to spread their illness to others. I mean, what about little babies too? Lots of people just don't think about everyone else and whether they may have a pre-existing illness which could make something like that dangerous to their health. I think that's the problem. Lots of people just don't think about anyone else at all.

I hear you, Julie.

[Doody]

Julie, I hear ya too! That has been a rant of mine for years and years and years!

In fact, there was a special on the Today Show not long ago, and forgive me for not remembering it word for word. But they were talking about the problem at work of 'presenteism' or however you would spell it. As opposed to absenteeism! There are companies, such as Google I believe it was, that tell their employees to please stay at home when they feel they are just too sick to work, but instead come to work.

I've seen it all my 21 years at where I work. It's most especially a problem with the 'bigger wigs', the professors, etc. They come to work with fevers, coughing, spewing, laryngitis, etc. Drives me nuts!!!! And then when the support staff get sick because of that, they have a fit when we stay home from work!!!

They had statistics of how production goes way down when someone comes to work sick and that companies are much better off if people stay home and keep their germs to themselves.

Your rant comes through loud and clear! It drives me nuts!!!!! I so agree...STAY HOME when you are sick. Anyone knows when they are not well enough to be at work or places they shouldn't be.

[jaded2nite]

I agree with all that has been said! But I know that calling in sick is frowned upon in the work force. I know many places that I have work give you the third degree if you call out.

The pressure is there to come in sick or not.

[Julie]

I did a search on "presenteeism" and there are a lot of good articles out there. Thanks for that Doody. Maybe we should send those links to some evil bosses out there. When I used to be a teller (shudder), the president of the bank told us that if the only way you could come to work was with a cough drop in your mouth, don't bother showing up.

Favorite sick person...a salesperson at Dillard's taking her temperature in between waiting on customers. I wonder if she was on commission?

[SeamsLikeStitches]

I agree with the "KEEP YOUR GERMS TO YOURSELF" group! For those of us who have small ones at home, we don't want to carry them home to them. As with Julie, when going to the dinner and finding out the brother in law was sick. That was very selfish of the sister to not tell everyone before the arrived that he was sick. In our family we always send out the warning, or we don't show.
I also hate it when those who come to work sick share their germs with those of us who aren't. Not only is it unhealthy, it's GROSS! Having to listen to them cough, sneeze and all the yucky sounds that come with the illness.
I have those little bottles of hand disenfectant at my desk, and I have tissues all around, so when the come near, I offer them the disenfectant and tissues, if they say no, I use the disenfectant before I touch anything they have touched. It sends a clear message that I don't want their germs!

I'm politely rude I guess! I see it as them giving me papers that are covered in spit and me pretending to ignore it, no thanks!

I guess I would have made my visit at my sisters house as short as possible, or made an excuse as to why we couldn't have stayed. If she wasn't polite enough to tell me that her husband was lying on the couch covered in germs that could jump off and make my family sick, I would have suddenly gotten really bad "cramps" and had to go home. Or my son may have thrown up in the car on the way, something that we had to go home for.

Sometimes being "Polite" isn't worth your family's health!

God Bless You Julie