Getting sick is vile, miserable, and a waste of time - so do something about it!

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Bry_Fitness70
Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I hate getting sick. While this may seem to be a universal opinion among the human race, if attitudes and behavior are indicators, it is definitely an unpopular opinion.

People come to work sick. People come to social events sick. People send their kids to school and sporting events sick. People don't wash their hands after relieving themselves.

There is a thread on a FB fitness page where hundreds of people are encouraging someone who is sick to go ahead and go to the gym and thereby expose the world to whatever nasty *kitten* they are suffering through. How is it possible that it is 2019 and you do not understand how germs and bacteria spread?

Getting sick is vile, miserable, and a waste of time. If you are sick, stay home. Wash your hands. Stop jamming your fingers in your mouth. If everyone did this consistently there would be no future flu epidemics.
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Replies

  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
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    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    A lot of people can't afford to stay home when they're sick. Which means if they can't afford to stay home sick, they can't afford to stay home with their kids when they get sick. For some people that literally costs them money and in an age where far too many are struggling you can't really get mad at the person who decides they'd rather go in sick then lose a day's wages. Not everyone gets sick days or enough of them, and many companies now are bending over backwards to get out of paying for more than they have to. On top of that we live in a society where a lot of illnesses aren't taken seriously anymore. I agree with you on the proper hygiene for sure, but people going to school and work sick is less about ignorance and more about unfortunate necessity. Sick people should definitely be avoiding the gym though, no one's going to die from missing a workout.

    Then this will just be a never-ending vicious cycle of carriers infecting others, with many elderly and young children dying, and the rest of us losing untold billions in lost productivity during the flu season.
    RachelElser wrote: »
    Yes, esp when you work at a place where YOU HAVE SICK DAYS. If you work at someplace that you don't have sick days, and can't not work, then wear a mask and hand sanitize!

    I agree, taking preventative measures if you have to come in would definitely help. I have seen food service people wiping their noses, sneezing into their hands, and then handling food and giving change out from the cash register. This is patient zero, infecting dozens of others. Maybe if enough people complain, some of these companies would be compelled to be more employee friendly and allow offer better benefits.

    We have the capability to work at home where I am employed, and we STILL have people coming in deathly ill and coughing all over everything! :(

  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
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    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Tell my boss how important it is for me stay home and I will. I get plenty of sick and personal days, but the demands of my job are too great especially since I work in the medical field. Go figure.

    As for the gym, not sure how any one can muster up the energy to go, but it depends on how sick sick is. I've worked out and it just puts extra stress on my body on top of being sick, it only delays getting well. But each their own I suppose.

    This is the same battle as providing wellness support in general, trying to get employers to evolve from being reactive to proactive. Paying 2-3 employees to stay home for a few days will increase your productivity when you understand that the alternative is having 20 employees sick, being less productive, and infecting others.

    There are times when I have been sick where it actually sounds good to raise my heart rate and work up a sweat (probably due to old wives' tales of sweating out illnesses or something similarly woo-ish in the back of my head). I always do something solo and isolated, like the treadmill / bike trainer / HIIT in my basement or I go outside if the weather is reasonable. There is no way I'm going to go into a crowded gym sick, sweat all over the equipment, give it a cursory wipe down with that spray stuff that most certainly doesn't kill viruses, and let somebody else use it and get sick.
  • BZAH10
    BZAH10 Posts: 5,709 Member
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    Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Tell my boss how important it is for me stay home and I will. I get plenty of sick and personal days, but the demands of my job are too great especially since I work in the medical field. Go figure.

    As for the gym, not sure how any one can muster up the energy to go, but it depends on how sick sick is. I've worked out and it just puts extra stress on my body on top of being sick, it only delays getting well. But each their own I suppose.

    This is the same battle as providing wellness support in general, trying to get employers to evolve from being reactive to proactive. Paying 2-3 employees to stay home for a few days will increase your productivity when you understand that the alternative is having 20 employees sick, being less productive, and infecting others.

    There are times when I have been sick where it actually sounds good to raise my heart rate and work up a sweat (probably due to old wives' tales of sweating out illnesses or something similarly woo-ish in the back of my head). I always do something solo and isolated, like the treadmill / bike trainer / HIIT in my basement or I go outside if the weather is reasonable. There is no way I'm going to go into a crowded gym sick, sweat all over the equipment, give it a cursory wipe down with that spray stuff that most certainly doesn't kill viruses, and let somebody else use it and get sick.

    In theory I agree with you on this, but no matter what you do you'll always have people who insist on coming to work (or the gym) sick.

    I understand that not everyone can take sick days but it all comes down to common sense, which is lacking these days. If you ARE sick wash your hands often, be careful about what you touch, cover your mouth, etc. I know several people who just resign themselves to "oh, it's flu season, guess we'll all get it!" and just don't care. I DO care however, because thankfully I rarely get sick so use manners and common sense people.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    A lot of people can't afford to stay home when they're sick. Which means if they can't afford to stay home sick, they can't afford to stay home with their kids when they get sick. For some people that literally costs them money and in an age where far too many are struggling you can't really get mad at the person who decides they'd rather go in sick then lose a day's wages. Not everyone gets sick days or enough of them, and many companies now are bending over backwards to get out of paying for more than they have to. On top of that we live in a society where a lot of illnesses aren't taken seriously anymore. I agree with you on the proper hygiene for sure, but people going to school and work sick is less about ignorance and more about unfortunate necessity. Sick people should definitely be avoiding the gym though, no one's going to die from missing a workout.

    Then this will just be a never-ending vicious cycle of carriers infecting others, with many elderly and young children dying, and the rest of us losing untold billions in lost productivity during the flu season.
    RachelElser wrote: »
    Yes, esp when you work at a place where YOU HAVE SICK DAYS. If you work at someplace that you don't have sick days, and can't not work, then wear a mask and hand sanitize!

    I agree, taking preventative measures if you have to come in would definitely help. I have seen food service people wiping their noses, sneezing into their hands, and then handling food and giving change out from the cash register. This is patient zero, infecting dozens of others. Maybe if enough people complain, some of these companies would be compelled to be more employee friendly and allow offer better benefits.

    We have the capability to work at home where I am employed, and we STILL have people coming in deathly ill and coughing all over everything! :(

    Yes - this is a real problem in the food service industry, where most employees often do not get sick days and so feel forced to come in and work while sick, and handle the food other people eat.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/19/449213511/survey-half-of-food-workers-go-to-work-sick-because-they-have-to

    ...Fifty-one percent of food workers — who do everything from grow and process food to cook and serve it — said they "always" or "frequently" go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday. An additional 38 percent said they go to work sick "sometimes."

    ...Though some people might be tempted to point a finger at the workers for going to work sick, the reality of their situation helps explain why they do it, says Jose Oliva, co-director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance. "A lot of these workers actually depend on every single one of the days that they work for money," Oliva says. "So if you don't go to work, you don't get paid."

    Indeed, a 2012 study from Oliva's Food Chain Workers Alliance and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found that 79 percent of food system workers did not have paid sick days or did not know whether they did. Similar to the current study, the 2012 report also found that 53 percent of workers had worked when they were sick.

    And Oliva points to another factor in the equation: low wages. Many of the lowest-paying jobs in America are in the food industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If workers were making a living wage, Oliva says, they might have more flexibility to take an unpaid day when needed.

    now everyone go out to lunch :D

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