No, I don't think he should have come to work today!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

There was a one-day sale at my store today. I was scheduled from 6:45am to 3:15. God, I hate mornings. And the “one-day sale” created exactly the kind of chaos I was anticipating but didn’t experience on Black Friday.

So when I was clocking in, I overheard this:

Jenny [manager]: I can’t believe Moe called off today! Sick? I don’t care if he’s sick! He should come in anyway.

Manny [co-worker]: I’ve worked when I was sick.

Jenny: We need everyone we can get today!

Manny: Unless he’s in the hospital…

Rilchiam: [whonk] Don’t mind me! Just blowing my nose; sinuses act up early in the morning. I don’t have a fever or anything!

Jenny: He says he has a fever! Pfffff! I’ve worked when I had a fever!

Manny: I’ve worked with a fractured ankle and e-coli and an alien birthing itself from my abdomen…

Okay, that last line wasn’t an exact quote ;). And of course I didn’t say so, but I don’t think Moe, or anyone else, should work eight hours of the first day they’re sick. Especially not a day like today was. And especially in a job where you don’t get health benefits. Stay in bed for the first day and it’ll be over a lot quicker. Push yourself, and it could hang around a loooooong time, plus you could infect everyone else.

Honestly, I thought I was in that Simpsons episode where the two Japanese factory workers are giggling about how they’ve successfully kept their supervisors from knowing that they’re sick. Ha ha ha, cough, and Springfield gets a box full of germs.

No, I don’t think he should have come to work today.

2

Well, anyway, another thing that happened…Doesn’t quite fit in any of the customer service threads in the Pit…

Female customer: Do you think this bedspread would be okay for my son? Or is it too femme?

Me: Yeah, a bit. Ooh! Lemme show you something that would be great for a guy!

FC: Surfboards? My son is 23, not 10!

Well excuuuuuuuuse me for thinking that if you’re picking a bedspread for you son, that he must be under sixteen :rolleyes: Furthermore, I hardly think 23 is too old for a surfboard theme. If you could see it, you’d probably agree. It’s not cartoony: it’s a pattern of waves, surfboards, and dune buggies parked on the sand.

But the point really is, I’ve always heard about customers like this, and I finally got one! “Do you think my spouse/kid/co-worker/whatever would like this?” Well, how the bloody hell would I know, if I don’t know them?

3

So what does a whonk do, anyway?

While I sympathize, as long as people like Jenny are the ones with hiring and firing power, and people like Manny are willing to toe the line, people like Moe are going to be pressured to come in to work no matter how sick they are.

4

Ugh. I am having a related dilemma right now. I have the flu. I can’t breathe, have a 102 degree fever, am dizzy if I stand too long and exhibit a cough-and-sneeze combo that will wet your shirt even if you’re five feet away and I’m using a tissue. Problem is that I just started a new job two weeks ago.

They informed me when I was hired that they do not accept call-ins, even if you’re sick. They expect you to call your coworkers (They gave me a long phone list.) and convince one of them to take your shift. If you cannot accomplish this, you are expected at work on time and for the duration.

It is a retail job. I see maybe three other people each time I work. Two of them are always managers. In the last two weeks, I have worked five days. (That’s okay, because it’s part-time.) This all adds up to the fact that I have only met approximately three of my coworkers. I’ve talked to those three only insofar as we’ve exchanged names and hellos.

I can’t call a bunch of people I don’t know and ask them to work my shift! Isn’t it the manager’s responsibility to take care of that? It has been in every other job I’ve ever had, including times when I was the manager.

I really like this job so far, so I guess I’m going to have to go in tomorrow. I hope they all enjoy the flu as much as I have. :rolleyes:

5

As long as coming in to work when you’re dying is considered an asset and calling out is considered lazy, this is what’s going to happen.

6

We shouldn’t have to go to work tomorrow either. Earlier this evening, I got the call that a co-worker had died of an overdose. We were semi-close.
(Definition of semi-close: We enjoyed each others conversation on breaks, we had never gone out for drinks together, but she has had drinks at my house.)
Sad thing is, her brother just died less than 6 months ago. I can’t stop thinking about her mom, who I have met a few times. I really don’t want to go to work tomorrow. Unfortunatley, Monday is our busy day and calling off is grounds for termination.

Tolyri
(glad she doesn’t have the flu)

7

D’oh! Of course, that was the sound effect of me blowing my nose? You knew that, right?..heh…

Re: your second paragraph: Yes, I know that’s how the world works, and I certainly wasn’t going to voice my opinion. I’m just deeply grateful that I wasn’t exposed to Moe’s germs.

That sucks, hyperjes. Hope you feel better!

8

Yep, just trying to be cute and/or stupid. :smiley:

9

Sorry to hear that, tolyri.

Sublight: Yeah, but I should have realized how that looked.

10

You know, I couldn’t care less if Moe’s recovery is delayed by his going to work (well, maybe a little…it sucks to be sick). I, as the potential customer, really don’t want a sick guy hacking all over my stuff as I stand at the register.

I was in the grocery store a few weeks ago and the guy putting the salad bags on the shelf was coughing all over them, not covering his mouth or anything. I just got a few essentials and got the hell out of there.

Meanwhile, my husband’s clinic had a couple guys in there last week installing computers. Both of them were obviously sick. Sure enough, now both my husband and I have strep. I’m sure the sick computer guys were thinking that it’s no big deal - if adults get sick, they can pop some antibiotics and get back to work. Unfortunately, now my 4 month old has been exposed to this. Strep can be dangerous for a child - it’s the same bacteria that causes Scarlet Fever. Thankfully, he’s not showing any symptoms, but the incubation is five days, so he won’t be out of the clear until later this week.

Next time you (in the general sense) go into work sick (especially during flu season!!), don’t just consider your coworkers & customers that you’re exposing your sickness to - think about their families, too. They could have a baby or immune-suppressed family member who could be seriously endangered by your thoughtlessness.

11

Even worse than that. The 7- or 8-year-old son of a higher-up in my company was sick with the flu and couldn’t go to school, so she BROUGHT HIM TO WORK WITH HER!

AAARGH!

12

I agree with C3. If you are sick stay home, no one wants to catch what you have. Where I work we do not have sick days, just a pool of vaction/sick time. So what does this foster? People coming in sick saying , “I am not going to waste my vacation time being sick.”

13

I consider myself lucky on this front. My company has a strict ‘no-germ’ policy. The one time I tried to come in with a cold, my boss sent me home. The reason this is okay, though, is that I have an office job, and a laptop. So if you’re sick, you work from home. They frown upon you proffesing to be too sick to work from home-- you’d better be just about dying. Though, if you think about it, how often are you so sick you can’t do anything at all?

I have, however, worked in retail, and man were they awful about it. They also did not take call ins, no matter how bad. A friend of mine told me that when she called out on 9/11 her manager told her she was going to have to find someone to cover her shift, or she’d have to get into work-- else she was fired. I should point out, btw, that we were located in Northern New Jersey. My friend was too busy trying to keep someone with a loved one at ground zero from going out of her skin, so she just appologized again and hung up. The manager did call back later (after they’d declared a state of emergency and closed the roads) to tell her that she didn’t have to come in.

14

I consider myself lucky on this front. My company has a strict ‘no-germ’ policy. The one time I tried to come in with a cold, my boss sent me home. The reason this is okay, though, is that I have an office job, and a laptop. So if you’re sick, you work from home. They frown upon you proffesing to be too sick to work from home-- you’d better be just about dying. Though, if you think about it, how often are you so sick you can’t do anything at all?

I have, however, worked in retail, and man were they awful about it. They also did not take call ins, no matter how bad. A friend of mine told me that when she called out on 9/11 her manager told her she was going to have to find someone to cover her shift, or she’d have to get into work-- else she was fired. I should point out, btw, that we were located in Northern New Jersey. My friend was too busy trying to keep someone with a loved one at ground zero from going out of her skin, so she just appologized again and hung up. The manager did call back later (after they’d declared a state of emergency and closed the roads) to tell her that she didn’t have to come in.

15

“Go ahead and fire me, then. I’ll see you in court. I may not get my job back, but I will make you wish you’d never tried to screw me over.”

It’s always worked for me. Admittedly, once I determine that I am in a job where I work for jerks and/or crazy people, I invariably start hunting for another job immediately, so I’ve never actually had to make good on it…