Typhoid Mary

[Dave1982]

Or "Common Sense Need Not Apply"

Last customer of the day was a woman looking for paper to print her wedding programs on. To begin with, she needed her hand held in picking out said paper, which is something of a pet peeve of mine; I hate babysitting customers who can't figure out basic stuff like paper, pens, etc. A couple questions, sure, but when you start to monopolize my time it gets old quick.

But the real kicker was the customer's mother, who was standing behind us coughing up a lung with great gusto. It got to the point where i had to turn and ask "Ma'am, are you ok?"

Sucky Daughter: Oh, she has pneumonia.

Me:

SHe has pneumonia? A contagious and very dangerous illness THAT I AM NOW BEING EXPOSED TO!!!!!! I'd ask what the hell they were thinking, but if I knew the answer then this site wouldn't exist.....

Honestly, that woman should have been home in bed. It's dangerous enough for her to be up and about with that sort of illness, to say nothing of the people she's putting at risk.

So fuck them both AND the horse they rode in on!

[Magpie]

Wanna bet she had stopped taking her antibiotics because she felt mostly better, and figured that she was fine on her own now?

[Tama]

I didn't think pneumonia was contagious?

Excuse me, I need to go see a doctor.

[BrenDAnn]

Oh my...Wow. That sort of thing is EXACTLY how I got strep last year. My less than intelligent co-worker came to work with it, having decided that he felt fine and didn't need his antibiotics, and ever-so-kindly passed it to me. Do people not get the concept of CONTAGIOUS?

[ditchdj]

Wow, must be that "summertime cold" going around. I've had a stuffy nose for a few days, and I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat.

[ralerin]

The ones that piss me off the most are the disgusting, horribly smelly, can't even keep themselves clean types that come in and cough in your face and don't even apologize.

Asthma + upper or lower respiratory illness =me fucking barely able to breathe!

I didn't think pneumonia was contagious?

Excuse me, I need to go see a doctor.

Yes. Run. Now. It is HORRIBLY contagious.

[Munkie]

oh GOD. STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU SICKIE.

I've had pnuemonia - it was HORRIBLE. Compound that with bronchitis and four months of no health care.

I'm surprised I can still breathe properly.

[Anakah]

Ewww what are they thinking?! I've had a few customers who thought it was acceptable to leave the house with pink eye. That stuff spreads like the plague too. I hate leaving the house with a cold let alone pnuemonia!! IDIOTS!

[sweetj82]

i have had a few parents bring kids to the store with heads full of lice.....sooooooo gross

[LillFilly]

Here I was convinced it was a build-up of mucus in the lungs from cold/flu, but as it turns out a cold/flu can become pneumonia if bacteria gains a foothold in said lung mucus; bacteria that can be spread from one person to another. I'm sure you can still get the bacteria even if you don't have any lung mucus for it to live in; just a matter of time.

You learn something new every day!

PS. I'm betting she was coughing into her hands and then touching all the pretty paper samples?

[BookstoreEscapee]

I was "borderline" for pneumonia back in February and I pretty much stayed in bed for 4 days straight. (Before I was diagnosed with that I had already had the flu for over a week; all in all I missed 7 full days of work over two weeks, left early 2 other days, and left early 2 more days over the next two weeks to go to the doctor.)

[BlaqueKatt]

Ewww what are they thinking?! I've had a few customers who thought it was acceptable to leave the house with pink eye. That stuff spreads like the plague too.

actually there are many causes of "pink eye" or conjunctivitis-one of them being simple allergies-which are not by any means contagious-chemical exposure is another non-contagious cause-another is the exact same virus that causes the common cold(I get that, everyone else gets a cold, I get conjunctivitis)-I guess people with allergies shouldn't leave the house as their allergy induced conjunctivitis could magically become contagious

And bacterial conjunctivitis is only contagious for the first 24-48 hours after starting treatment-though it takes longer for the irritation and symptoms to clear. For me when I have viral conjunctivitis I carry hand sanitizer-and don't touch things, or if shopping don't let others touch what I've touched-same as I do when I have a cold or other illness. If I have viral conjunctivitis, unless like me you're prone to it, the most you'll get from me is a cold-not conjunctivitis.

[Amina516]

Pneumonia is not always contagious, usually depends on the chief cause. Ive never had Pneumonia and never want to. Momma shoulda stayed at home, in bed with meds and chicken soup.

Some peoples kids...*shakes head*

[XCashier]

She dragged her sick mother with her to look at paper?! What kind of self-centered, cold-hearted bitch does that to their own mother (not to mention, everyone else Mother may come in contact with!)?

Good grief. If my mother had pneumonia, I would absolutely insist that she stay home in bed! And the only trip to the store I'd make is for her medicine!

[AccountingDrone]

I have COPD, and any time I get a cold, or exhaustion of a certain level it rolls into pneumonia. Generally I am not contagious, my body just cant manage to keep my lungs clear and it is essentially a variation of aspiration pneumonia. Although I did once have a fungal pneumonia I picked up working in a filthy warehouse that had flood damage =( I really can't recommend going out with any form of pneumonia - the inability to take in oxygen correctly makes doing anything exhausting.