Stupid Award

[makbike]

1+ Veronica!

I stayed home yesterday after spending the night in the bathroom battling a severe case of the stomach flu. It is being passed around my school like a trading card and unfortunately I was infected. I dropped 6 pounds in 6 hours. Sadly, I could not just call in and ask for a sub. I had to make my way to my building before classes started on Friday to write up lesson plans, run off copies for my classes, gather information for the upcoming field trip on Monday, etc. All the time hoping I did not start vomitting or have yet another bout of diarrhea.

Please if you have kids keep them home when they are not feeling well - school are not a free form of day care!

[Crankin]

I have already missed a day of my permanent sub job because I caught the horrible virus that has been going around my school. The day I came home with a 102 fever, I knew i had to stay home and go to the doctor. One day 9 teachers and 100/450 kids were out! I sanitize my room like crazy, the kids use the hand sanitizer a lot, but still it is a breeding ground for infection. I realized that I had what I usually have in the fall, but this was the first time in my adult life that I wasn't in school in September. I am trying to be very careful about being around illness, since my fibromyalgia diagnosis, but I don't want to become a germaphobic.

[Lifesgreat]

What's a school nurse?

We have a district nurse. The only time I've seen her on campus is when she came to teach us how to give insulin injections to our kids with diabetes.

V.

Our school nurse comes once a week, so our school's kids schedule their illnesses

My child had pink eye and her treatment required eyedrops in the middle of the day. It was easier to drive across town right before her lunchtime and administer them than to turn it over to someone else.

I remember my school's nurse and the BIG bottle of iodine she had for those of us who played hard at recess and now have the scars to show for it.

[solobiker]

Sounds like I have the opposite problem at work. I work in a rehab setting in a nursing home, where of course the residents are already medically compromised and the staff come in sick, coughing and even throwing up. That is not okay in my book. I had the stomach bug and I stayed away from work as I wouldn't want any of the residents or my co-workers to get it. I am sure that is where I got it from.

[IFjane]

Thankfully this is not the case now, but years ago when I was a classroom teacher our program (preschool - Head Start) had annual "perfect attendance" TROPHIES!!!! Three and four year old children have no say in the matter and many came to school sick. If they walked through the door, they were counted present even if we immediatly turned them around and sent them home. I had one family whose previous three children I had taught and all had gotten trophies. The youngest child was in my class and one day, outside the bathroom, she said to me, "look at my tummy!" She pulled her shirt up to reveal CHICKEN POX!! . Amazingly she had no blisters on her face so her mom sent her to school in order to get her trophy. Sadly, she had already been contagious for days prior and had infected the rest of the class (clearly this was in the days before the varicella vaccine was available). She got her trophy and I mounted a campaign to get rid of the stupid award.....

[Aggie_Ama]

I spend much of my work day wondering if it is allergies or a new cold. Working in a cube farm is second only to teaching in the germ sharing world. I was rarely sick before I took an office job, even though I was working retail.

When I get sick, I am lucky to be able to work from home. In January I had a nasty viral infection, I felt about 70% but was highly contagious. I talked to my manager and put in two days from home to keep my germs all to myself. I do not like calling in, but I really hate when people come to work with the flu, strep or other contagious illness. UGH!!

My husband is immuno compromised and I constantly worry when he tells me his co-workers have been at work sick. Luckily, since he has had this concern he has stayed pretty healthy.

I agree- STUPID AWARD!

[DirtDiva]

This year I have paid sick-leave for the first time in seven-and-a-half years. I'm damn well staying home and enjoying it should the opportunity present itself.

[carpaltunnel]

I'm just getting over a horrible cold I caught because my supervisor and our department head have been working sick for weeks on end. Both make tons more money and have more days off than the rest of us do, but the're saving it all up to vacation, fish and hunt, so they come to work sick. I think it's unethical for management to do that.

[Blueberry]

When I was in high school, we got to skip final exams if we had perfect attendance. Yep - I faked being well more than a few times.

Now I'm in a large law firm. If you stay home sick, you get phone calls all day long (and sometimes a come into the office now order). So....practically everybody is sick all winter.

CA

[firenze11]

My school used to have individual awards for perfect attendance kids. It always made me feel bad for not sucking it up and going to school when I was sick. I think a traveling trophy is pretty stupid. Methinks they should focus on other achievements.

I have a sick at work story. This was when I wasn't strong enough to say "that's it, this is ridiculous."

I worked at a place that served food. One day I was sick and had been guilted into going to work. While I was there I just kept feeling worse and worse and was constantly telling the manager that I shouldn't be there with people's food and handling money.

No one listened until finally I was making a drink and a guy at the counter said "Hey! Are you sick? Are you making that drink?"
"Yes."
"I don't want a sick person making my drink"
I said "THANK YOU!," threw the drink in the garbage, walked to the back room, and told the manager "That's IT I'm leaving" and went home to lay in bed.

Going to work sick can be irresponsible. I understand why some people go, though. And I think ignoring some illnesses just makes them last longer and reduces productivity in the long run anyway.

I hope when I have kids one day, perfect attendance won't be worth going to school sick for.