Willie:Open Letter To The Dude That Came To Work Sick
Dear Ol’ Dude:
Just for the record, we’re still cool. I know that I have trouble remembering your name, but i’ll eventually get it. Anyway – here’s my gripe:
While I can appreciate the fact that you work just as hard as anyone in this building, there are certain times where you just have to stay home. I hardly ever get sick, and when I do it’s usually because of coworkers who show up and spread their sickness around. Case in point: you showing up at work with pinkeye the week before last.
When I shook your hand that Thursday morning and saw your crusty, reddened eye, I knew it was too late. I ran to the restroom and immediately washed my hands. If I could have doused my eyes with hand sanitizer without the fear of blindness, I would have. That Friday, I woke up with a little dryness in my eye. That Saturday, pinkeye was in full effect.
As you should know by now, the new Willie hates to miss work. I would have gladly gouged my eye out if it meant not having to call in, but having two eyes is pretty important to me. Do you know how hard it was for me to call in last Monday? I can’t lie – I cursed your name not because you gave me pinkeye, but because you kept me away from the one thing that has come to define my life – my job. While it’s true that I went to the doctor and he prescribed some stuff that cleared it up by Tuesday, I reluctantly volunteered to call in for the rest of the week because 1)I didn’t want any latent / residual traces of pinkeye to infect anybody else and 2), I wanted to see if you had infected others.
So as I sat home all week and caught up on my DVR viewing, longing to return to work even though I was medically cleared to do so, my thoughts went out to those who may have been affected by your indiscretion. Like I said – we’re still cool, but you need to keep your sickness at home next time.
Willie