The evils of presenteeism

I've finally caught a cold. To be honest, I'm surprised it took this long: I've been taking the subway to work every morning during rush hour, so I am constantly surrounded by teeming masses of humanity. And, at this time of this year, many of the teeming masses are sick.

Posters on TTC subway platforms are advising sick commuters to cover their sneezes with their sleeves to keep germs from spreading. And there is even an entire book devoted to the subject of teaching people to cough and sneeze properly. On the subway, unfortunately, covering sneezes or coughs is impractical: most commuters are holding on to a pole with one hand and reading with the other, leaving no hands free to block germs. Plus, sneezing or coughing on your sleeve is just plain gross.

Related to this is a CBC news article that talks about the evils of "presenteeism", which is going to work even though you're sick. The article mentions that presenteeism costs the American economy up to $150 billion a year, but also points out that one in four adults can't afford to miss work for even as little as a week.

What the article doesn't say is that many of us are now contractors - and contractors don't get any sick days. If I don't go into work, I don't get paid. And I can't afford not to get paid. So unless I'm really, really sick, I gotta go in. (A technical writer sometimes gets to sit at a desk and write, but usually has to spend a lot of time asking people questions. So a lot of my work can't be done at home.) Sorry, everybody - I'll try not to get too close to people tomorrow.


According to the Christian Science Monitor (linked via Metafilter), Iran apparently offered concessions to the United States back in 2003, but was refused. And now, the U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. All I can say is this: Mr. Bush, please please please don't invade Iran. Please. Don't. Please.


And here's a Flickr photo set from a Wal-Mart in South Carolina that is in less than perfect condition. Warning: some of these photos should not be viewed while eating lunch.