As I waddled into work this morning, I saw our esteemed office manager popping a message onto the bulletin board…in BIG WRITING, it said that there had been a case of gastroenteritis noted, and that we should all be extra vigilant about washing our hands and taking other basic hygeine-precautionary measures.
On further questioning though, it turns out that the gastro victim is still at work.
For fucks sake, if you are sick, especially with something as contagious as gastro, could you kindly stay the fuck home until you are well?
And as far as management goes, if you KNOW someone is crook and carrying a dastardly lurgy, could you kindly send them the fuck home so they don’t infect the rest of us poor schleppers?
It’s all well and good to tell us to be extra-cautious about our handwashing etc…but fer’ fucks sake, it’s a call-centre where we live on top of one another constantly. One lurgied breath or cough is all it would take to see the rest of us topple like nine-pins.
Fuck you work. If I get crook in the next day or two and have to take some time off, you are going to fucking PAY my missed days.
Speaking as someone who has had a recent bought with viral gastroenteritis…
Sometimes, the gastric distress continues past the time of active infection. This happened in my case, with 6+ weeks of intestinal highjinks after I was over the infection. Gastro has several causes, some of which are more likely to spread than others. If the person in question is not contagious and is capable of working there’s no reason for them not to work.
As for the handwashing - you should be vigilant about that in any case. The causes of gastro affected different people differently and it’s possible for someone with a mild illness - so mild they hardly notice it - to pass it on to someone else who winds up much more ill. The problem isn’t necessarialy your acutely ill co-worker, there could be a silent carrier inadvertantly spreading it around.
Wash your hands, disinfect things like phone headset and computer keyboards, and take care of yourself.
Last week, I had a bout of the stomach crap going around here. It happened on Thursday, when I called out, management whined about me not being here because gasp other people had called out. When I called the next day to let them know that I would not be in again, due to my PCP wanting to run tests to rule out ulcers, salmonella, etc (I am at higher risk for major issues with the digestive tract due to being a WLS patient and the salmonella-tainted peanut butter was being sold right here in our area – one of my PCP’s other patients has it right now), there was much sighing and whining.
I was tempted to come in, poop and puke everywhere and not wash my hands, just so they could all get it. Fuckers. Seriously, we have at least 2 people who are in the midst of chemotherapy – and they want me to bring myself in with something as contagious as stomach flu? How the fuck do they think I got it in the first place?
Seriously, some companies have no clue. I hope you don’t catch the chit.
