It never fails to amaze me that people actually go out in public when they are sick. Really. For heaven's sake, people, you're SICK. Stay at home and get better! Hide in your bedroom. Read a book. Do NOT, whatever you do, make the rest of us sick. It's enough to make me want to wear a surgical mask out in public.
Not only is it rude, it's disgusting. I am no real germ-o-phobe, but there comes a point when you're standing in line at a checkout, and in front of you is someone who has what sounds like terminal pneumonia, bringing up copious amounts of phlegm, which are not "gotten rid of", but
Is it too much to ask that people discreetly wipe their nose, then head to the lavatory to clear the passages, so to speak? At least then, you can actually wash your hands after blowing your infectious waste all over them. That sort of thing is put in a bright orange bag with a large "Biohazard" symbol on it if you were in a doctor's office.
What a great idea. We could have trash cans specifically for this purpose. Maybe it would make people think twice before gleefully spreading their sickness to the rest of society. Big, bright, orange trash cans with well-sealed lids. Maybe with rotating tops, much like the rotating doors that don't let air pass in and out of a building.
Perhaps my imagination is too vivid, but for the past 4 weeks, Tuesday nights have been Childbirth class night. Which in itself is not a huge deal, a bit of a waste of time, but I've gotten enough information that I don't think it was a total waste of $50. The first night, the instructor did basic pregnancy stuff, most of which the women in the class had already experienced, since we're all around 7 or 8 months pregnant. One of the things we "learned" was that we were not supposed to be around sick people if we could help it. Immediately after announcing this, the instructor has a 10 second coughing fit.
Also, I think everyone in the class but husband and I were already sick with some sort of cold, sinus, or bronchial infection. And they all clustered around us. EEWWWW. So the next week, we moved position slightly, hoping that the coughing hordes would not sit directly behind us. No such luck. They followed us. As they did the following week!
So yesterday, we grabbed 2 chairs against the back wall. Would you know that the person most sick, who uses the same ratty little kleenex for every single nose blow (in which there is at least a tablespoon of mucus each time) sat *right* in front of us? It's like a booger...you just can't flick it! ARGH! Again, my imagination ran amok, as every time she would cough or blow the nose, she would use a flat hand, and I could just see streams of infectious germs flying from her mouth, bouncing off that hand, and reflecting behind her directly onto me.
While I'm on the subject, may I just mention people who go to work sick? Now, I realize that many people are paid by the hour. Taking a sick day will cut into their pay, but if they go to work sick, they're going to cut into *everyone's* pay. If you're lucky enough to work for a company that allows sick days, why, for the love of Pete, do you not USE them? This has been an ongoing point of contention at the college where my husband is a computer technician. His entire department has some moral objection to staying home when they are sick. Which means that the week after, there's no one healthy in the department, because everyone has come down with the bug. They're SICK DAYS. They are meant for you to use to not make others sick.
I was very appreciative the other day. Standing in the line at our local Win-Co grocery store, I was amazed to see a checker going down the line of registers spraying lysol on the belts and
machinery you use to check out. I just wanted to hug her. She is my hero. Her and my bottle of Purell.
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