Germ etiquette

Why, oh why is my sick, hack-y, sneezy, fever-y co-worker here, spreading her lovely plaque? She came in last week, every day, sick, and left on Wednesday because she had a fever. Now, coincidentally, two co-workers have developed swine flu. This is bad, because our office is very small (less than 15 people.) Honestly, people. If you are sick, please stay the hell HOME. I don't want to use all my days off because you were inconsiderate. I got fussed at this morning by my boss, who overheard me telling another co-worker that I had just gotten some Tamiflu, because she thought I had come to work sick (I didn't, it's a preventative measure.) Meanwhile, nothing has been said to Typhoid Mary back there.

I

We are short staffed, as is, now we're down two more people! How hard is it to just stay home when you're sick? The funny thing is, my boss is a germaphobe, and yet has said nothing to the hacking, coughing, feverish mess in the back office.

Michelle,

You just hit on one of my pet peeves. I f-n HATE that. Back when I was working (regularly) we used to be able to bank our sick leave year after year (one of the few "perks" a federal employee earns mind you) and one of my chuckle headed co-workers used to brag about how he had 'built up" over a 1000 hrs of sick leave. I finally got tired of hearing him and one day told him "well, it doesn't mean you've been any healthier than the rest of us, it just means that when you are sick you come in and infect the rest of us". From that point on I road him hard...and I mean unmercifully whenever he would come in coughing and slinging snot.

In my office, we get two weeks paid. That's it. It doesn't matter if you're sick or on vacation, and the powers that be really, REALLY frown upon unpaid days off. This woman works 16 hours a week, and has three kids under 6, so I'm sure she's coming in sick to get some quiet time, but still, have some consideration for the rest of us who are stuck there 40 hours a week. The worst part is, she and our boss are buddies, so nothing will be said or done to her. The rest of us will just be stuck catching her plague, like we are every year. If any of the rest of the staff showed up sick and infected the entire office, we'd be fired. It's ridiculous.