Just because someone thinks they’re okay with taking their illness outside doesn’t mean everyone else is, especially in the workplace. That is why Pennsylvania-based Reddit user MyDa*nCoffee couldn’t believe her ears when she discovered that one of her coworkers and their children had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) but came to work anyway. On top of that, the boss allegedly knew about the situation, but “he decided it’s nothing to worry about because it’s ‘not common,’” OP says.
“I am FURIOUS,” exclaimed Coffee, saying that she was afraid to pick her daughter up from her dad’s due to the fear she might spread it. OP clarified that HFMD is “incredibly contagious,” and evidence backs this up. Even the Pennsylvania Department of Health warns about how easily the disease can spread. Although young children are most susceptible, anyone can get it and suffer its side effects.
“It’s so contagious and painful… ur boss is an idiot,” remarked a Redditor in the comments. “I’d be asking why the workplace wasn’t taking precautions after being told someone had a highly contagious illness,” wondered another.
One commenter added that, since the pandemic, they believe people have become much more callous about showing up to work sick, despite the risk of infecting others. “People are awful,” they concluded. But for Coffee, an even more infuriating bit is that her boss is allegedly a doctor.
Apparently, This Boss Is Also a Doctor
“A pathologist by trade but is current with his license. Hasn’t practiced in 20 years,” she explained, referring to her boss. Besides his questionable reassurance that HFMD wasn’t anything to worry about, “he also claims that the only time he saw black lung in miners was if they also smoked,” added Coffee.
One person brought politics into the argument by guessing whether this boss was a conservative. To this, Coffee responded, “You nailed it. He’s a Christian nationalist.”
In the end, OP says she hasn’t shown any symptoms of contracting HFMD herself from her coworker but still fears she’d infect her daughter. As a few commenters suggested, a firmly written email to Coffee’s boss might be in order, lest he allow another contagious disease to be nonchalantly brought into the workplace.
