If you're going to bring your Flu-ridden child into my store...(mild rant)

The BBQ Pit
1

If you’re going to bring your Flu-ridden child into my store while I’m diagnosing your computer problems, please;

Do not brag that “He’s got the flu, he’s achy and pukey and generally not well”, that’s nothing to be proud of and trumpeting around, infectious diseases are not competitions (not even in the Virus Olympics…) he should be in bed, warm and safe, megadosing on Vitamin C, Chicken Soup, and overdosing on Sesame Street, not in a computer store, a potential infection vector for employees and customers alike

Do NOT let him run around the store, pull on cords and bang his little fists on the keyboards, we’re a computer retailer, NOT a frakking Day-Care centre, those computers he’s happily pounding away on are NOT toys put there for the amusement of your virus-laden little demon spawn, they’re there so we can SELL COMPUTERS so I can pay my bills and put food on my table

DO NOT allow him to tear up paper and leave it on the floor, I don’t care if it’s scrap paper, or product brochures, or whatever, he’s trashing my store and it’s not appreciated

DO NOT PLONK HIM DOWN ON THE COUNTER RIGHT NEXT TO ME! while I’m attempting to troubleshoot your machine, he’s shedding virus, coughing and generally being an infectious little prat, I’d appreciate NOT having to fight off a flu myself, thank you, I’m the only service tech in the store, and if I have to call in sick, no repairs get done and my paying customers get pissed off at me

yes, I understand, raising a child is hard work and you may not have been able to hire a sitter for whatever reason, but letting the little hellion run loose in the store, shedding virus and generally fucking up our displays is not appreciated either, grow up yourself and do some actual PARENTING and CONTROL YOUR CHILD

2

Gee, you sound a bit cranky MacTech. Come over here and let me feel your forehead…oooh, it’s a touch warm…and you look pretty pale too…

:smiley:

Nah, good rant. Sick kids should be home. Hey, sick ANYBODYS should be home and not spreading their noxious lurgies around the countryside.

In any given week we have two or sometimes more people coming to work sniffling and hacking like they’ve got terminal consumption. In a relatively small workspace, those virii are just squeeing with joy at all the potential hosts they’ve got to choose from next.

If you are sick, go home fuckers.

3

Bleh, BLEH! :wink:

sorry, that’s just the Vampire in me, pay it no mind…

4

I’ll bet that Momma’s or Daddy’s Little Angel is no joy to be around when he’s not sick, either. He probably doesn’t have the flu, if he’s this active, just a cold. Still and all, he needs to be taught to mind his manners in a store whether he’s sick or well, and the parent should not expose him and his germs to the general public. If he’s pukey, he SHOULD NOT be out in the general public, he should be at home, close to the toilet, and getting some quiet time in.

The poor kid’s got a severe and probably terminal case of Clueless Parent. He’ll probably recover from his flu or cold, but unless someone steps in soon and slaps some sense into his parent(s), he won’t grow up properly.

It’s a pity you couldn’t have frozen the Parent with an icy glare and said “Sir or Madam, please remove this misbehaving disease vector from my store. Don’t bring him back until he’s healthy and well-behaved. You are costing us more than your business is worth.”

5

It’s a new age we’re living in, where people’s computers are much more important than their kids.

Then again, the computer’s probably been in the family longer, provided more entertainment, and been less of a pain than the kid :wink:

6

I thought Macs didn’t get viruses.

7

:stuck_out_tongue:

8

Someone brought a sick infant over to our house (to an adult party, btw) right before we went on an international vacation. Thanks. My husband and I were both sick during our trip. WTF. As if bringing infants to parties where there are no other children (the parent was not even invited, but was an acquaintance and would have been welcome w/o the sick baby) was not bad enough, you bring a nasty cold virus as well? AGH!

9

And computers have a feature i wish kids came with, an OFF switch…

just something to disable the higher brain functions, mind you and put them to sleep, the brain stem would still function and they’d still be alive, the parent would have the ability to put their child to sleep at a moments notice though

barring that, can i at least get a “Pause” button, or maybe a “Vilume/Mute” control?

10

err… Volume/mute rather…

11

When you- or you child- is sick- stay the fuck home. You can go to the doctors and the drug store. That’s it.

Just one niggle: no one, especially kids should “megadose” on Vitamin C. It’s worthless and possibly harmful. Do make sure you are getting the RDA, and maybe a little more, but certainly not more than 1000mg for an adult and less for kids.

12

Even as a Windows Lover, I found your rant to be a thing of inspired beauty. I absolutely do not understand the motivations of people that gleefully talk up how horribly sick they were and describe all the minutiae like the color of phlegm they’re hacking up, etc. You’re right, being sick is not the fucking Olympics of Sickness and if you’re that happy about it you probably weren’t all that sick anyway.

Poor respiratory hygiene, another award winning subject deserving of a rant or two.

All in all, well done.

13

Why do people send their sick kids to SCHOOL? Where they will be in rooms with dozens of people and poor air circulation? Three times this year, I have told kids to go to the nurse to call their parents and get picked up because I could just tell they were seriously ill. Coughing like TB patients, heavy sinus congestion, just really fucking sick. All three times, the kid was out for a fucking WEEK after I forced them to go home.

I understand that people can’t find child care, but seriously, now he’s got to be out for a week… not to mention all the other kids your kid just got sick, and very likely some teachers too. The desks get washed like, never, they don’t cover their faces when they sneeze and cough, gross.

Sorry if this is a hijack… short story long, I agree with the OP.

14

My neighbor, who is always a contender for Crappiest Mother of the Year sends her sick children to school all the time. She doesn’t even work outside of the home, mind you; she simply doesn’t want to bothered by them during her free time. I kid you not, her middle daughter was sent home from school with a fever, was diagnosed with PNEUMONIA, and she sent her to school the following day.

When her oldest daughter received a perfect attendance award, a lot of mothers rolled their eyes because we knew that she shouldn’t have had perfect attendance. And while we’re on the subject, how stupid is it to give awards for kids with perfect attendance anyway? If they’re healthy enough to not miss a day of school, good for them. But we shouldn’t encourage and reward people for sending sick kids to school so that they can infect other kids.

15

How is this even physically possible? I had pneumonia and I couldnt go anywhere. Could barely walk to the bathroom, sleep, breathe, you know, those things. Besides, a kid that sick would just get sent right back home anyway.

16

Hey, I’d love to! But you know that measly 20 hours of sick pay we full-timers-with-benefits get? Well we don’t get it anymore. The cheap cocksuckers who run this company did away with it. :mad:

17

Hit the submit button too fast.

Yep, no more sick pay and most of us can’t afford to miss much work. :frowning:

18

The mother was probably doubling up. She had to take a day for the sick kis, so she decided this would be the time to get that computer fixed.

19

The last time we flew to Hawaii, a couple brought their very sick toddler with them. Of course they sat one row in front of us, held the little girl so that she was facing backward, and the child alternately coughed and shrieked in pain for five solid hours. I can’t imagine what kind of torture the air cabin pressure was inflicting on her congested ears.

And then we came down with a nasty bug a few days after landing in Kaua’i. Thanks, parents, for probably infecting everyone within coughing distance around you. At least you didn’t miss out on any beach time!

20

I don’t know but she did it. It was “walking pneumonia” whatever that is. And she wasn’t sent home because, as pitiful as she looked, she was no longer running a fever.