I think this week in my row, I’ve seen the most people out sick or working from home because they all were ill. Then, my boss got sick, and he’s been home for two days now. Some people are walking around my office coughing and blowing their noses, visibly disheveled, noses reddened from all the rubbing and blowing, and eyes watery. It’s finally elicited a reaction from HR, who sent out an e-mail today notifying everyone that if they are sick, they either need to take the day off or work from home. It’s really not that hard and is actually quite easy to arrange. While we may miss seeing your face, our HR director wrote, we do not want to catch whatever illness you may have, as you would be doing a great disservice to all your beloved colleagues. She also sent out an attachment for all the locations where we can get a flu shot that would be 100% covered by our health insurance.

It’s slightly comical to me that an e-mail like that has to be written, yet, I can’t really blame HR for writing it.

It’s sad that as adults, we need to be reminded that we’re not actually proving anything or really working harder by showing up to the office with a massive cough or a fever or the flu, and that in fact, we’re being selfish by thinking about ourselves first before thinking that we have the potential to get our peers sick.