Some of them truly have work to do. They don’t make a big deal out of being sick. They stay in their office and try to avoid unnecessary contact with their colleagues while they fight the bug. If at all possible, they work from home and call in for meetings. To these people, I say “bless you!” and I mean that in more ways than one.
However, the vast majority seem to wear their misery like a badge of honor. They tell everyone they meet how sick they are and that they really should go to the doctor but they just can’t find the time. They joke about having to come to work, laughing, coughing and wheezing microorganisms all over the office. (Experts say that you spread a cloud of microorganisms as much as three feet every time you exhale.)
Go home!
Better yet, don’t come in to work at all if you are starting to feel sick. Doctors will tell you that you’re most contagious before you really even feel all that sick, so don’t wait for a full blown cold. They’ll also tell you that the quickest way to get well is to rest, so if you can, cancel all your appointments and crawl back in bed. Those sick days in your benefits package are there for a reason.
I’m surprised more companies don’t make a big deal out of this. Many of them sponsor health awareness, fitness club memberships, and other initiatives designed to keep their people healthy. Yet, they continue to turn a blind eye when the modern day equivalent of Typhoid Mary shows up for work and starts a round of contagion that lasts until next summer.
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