Adult sick rules

[amaranth]

What are the general expectations for going out in public for an adult while sick? I know for kids it's 24 hours fever free/not a gross yellow nose sort of thing but I don't know for myself. I totally went to an important meeting last night while contagious but they thanked me for not canceling. Is it okay to go to a fun outing today if I'm still not 100%?

I feel like since it's optional I should stay home, but a tiny part of me is like "just wash your hands and don't hug anyone".

[pooh8402]

For me, it depends on how I feel. As adults, we know how to wash our hands and limit physical contact to reduce the spread of germs. So if I know I'm sick, but generally feel fine, I go do what I need to do.

You say this event is optional, but is it really optional? There are things that are optional, but not really, so it would look bad to not show up. For my H, that would be his company's monthly happy hours. It's noticed if people aren't there. His boss goes to every one (although he's a functional alcoholic, so...).



I do wish my job had a more flexible sick policy just because of my patient population. I would stay home more, if only to keep the babies well. But if I worked with only adults, I would show up if only a little sick.

[estrellita]

If you want to go, I'd go and just don't share food/drinks or get too close to anyone (probably not an issue but just in case).

[wanderingenough]

When you say sick, do you mean a cold or like a stomach virus? I still have stuff to do, so if it's a cold or something (unless I'm just coughing/sneezing germs all over the place) I go and minimize contact with others. If it's something where people would literally be out of work, babies could get really ill, etc., I skip.

[katespade]

To be honest, my immune system sucks so I get annoyed when people who know they're contagious decide to expose me to their germs. If anyone understands how much it sucks to miss out on fun stuff because of sickness it's me, but it's not really fair to the people you're going to be around unless you know that every single person is okay with being exposed to whatever you have.

[MrsMB]

I go or not go based on:

1. Do I feel OK enough?
2. Will there be children/pregnant women/or anyone with a compromised immune system? If there are, can I keep a safe distance from spreading germs? Germs from coughing/sneezing are said to reach up to 6 feet.

If you feel great and aren't coughing like crazy...I'd go.

[ewall]

Puking is a hard no. Not going. Same if I ever had the flu.

As far as colds go, as long as I'm not sneezing and coughing all over the place, I keep going. Limit contact, wash hands, all that jazz.

[amaranth]

Thanks for the all the feedback. I decided to go to the event because it has free childcare and got the kids out of the house (they were sick last week and totally better, so no worries there). It was the right choice because some other leaders were absent and they needed my help. I just used hand sanitizer like 10 times and left the room the blow my nose or cough. No one seemed bothered by my presence.

katespade People like you are the reason I questioned myself because you never know who may be more affected by even one or two accidentally spread germs.