The place we work, the place we live....
Anyone else seen those disgusting special reports this week on the Today show about germs living around us? The one today was especially disturbing, showing how many living bacterias and viruses there are in our office buildings. Lurking on every desktop, crawling on every keyboard, and hiding on every phone....these germs aren't just on used kleenexes or in the restrooms.
They call this new trend of people coming to work sick so they won't have to call in "presenteeism." All of us know the people that come dragging in, eyes sunken, listless, and fumbling...."I feel horrible," they murmur. "But I have to get this work done." And then the remark that really maddens us...."Plus, there's nothing to do at home except lie around on the couch." Did I miss something, but isn't that what you're supposed to do when you're ill?
Productivity levels are plummeting as people come into work, with their batteries half-empty, and attempt to complete their daily tasks. They leave the company lacking in profit, their bodies even weaker than before, and probably about five other coworkers with a high likelihood of getting their bug.
I remember fondly my days at the downtown law firm, those all-too-familiar sounds of mid-winter....sneezing, pill bottles rattling, coffee pots spurting out java mercilessly as some people attempt to hype themselves up with that dark liquid in order to mask their symptoms and make it through the day. Though I observed a very high percentage of germaphobes among the attorney lot, one in particular was a highly paranoid germ-freak. He would go out of his way to avoid touching anything that someone eles just did...and he would label and then re-label his cups and eating utensils in th break room, lest a germ-infested hand accidently mistake it for his or her own.
I remember one day in particular when one of the two attorneys I worked for specifically came into work with a fever of 103, bragging that he had strep throat but that he left the doctor's office to come into the office instead of going home as instructed. "I have to get caught up for this closing," he told me, his hot breath wafting in my direction, my heels catching on the carpet as I gingerly tried to back away from his contagiousness. "Um, don't you think you ought to go home?" I asked, politely telling him he looked like he felt horrible. "Nah, I'll be okay. Just one of those things."
Yes, John, but that "thing" was later shared among who knows how many fellow coworkers and employees. The closing came and went with success, but at what price? Ah, the almighty American dollar wins out once again....
Peace, love, and well-wishes for you all....
They call this new trend of people coming to work sick so they won't have to call in "presenteeism." All of us know the people that come dragging in, eyes sunken, listless, and fumbling...."I feel horrible," they murmur. "But I have to get this work done." And then the remark that really maddens us...."Plus, there's nothing to do at home except lie around on the couch." Did I miss something, but isn't that what you're supposed to do when you're ill?
Productivity levels are plummeting as people come into work, with their batteries half-empty, and attempt to complete their daily tasks. They leave the company lacking in profit, their bodies even weaker than before, and probably about five other coworkers with a high likelihood of getting their bug.
I remember fondly my days at the downtown law firm, those all-too-familiar sounds of mid-winter....sneezing, pill bottles rattling, coffee pots spurting out java mercilessly as some people attempt to hype themselves up with that dark liquid in order to mask their symptoms and make it through the day. Though I observed a very high percentage of germaphobes among the attorney lot, one in particular was a highly paranoid germ-freak. He would go out of his way to avoid touching anything that someone eles just did...and he would label and then re-label his cups and eating utensils in th break room, lest a germ-infested hand accidently mistake it for his or her own.
I remember one day in particular when one of the two attorneys I worked for specifically came into work with a fever of 103, bragging that he had strep throat but that he left the doctor's office to come into the office instead of going home as instructed. "I have to get caught up for this closing," he told me, his hot breath wafting in my direction, my heels catching on the carpet as I gingerly tried to back away from his contagiousness. "Um, don't you think you ought to go home?" I asked, politely telling him he looked like he felt horrible. "Nah, I'll be okay. Just one of those things."
Yes, John, but that "thing" was later shared among who knows how many fellow coworkers and employees. The closing came and went with success, but at what price? Ah, the almighty American dollar wins out once again....
Peace, love, and well-wishes for you all....
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