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Original poster

Freaking out please help me calm down

147 replies

Freak1ng0ut · 20/05/2021 21:23

I had to go into office the office today because we are being asked to come back- was very uncomfortable but went in at 9- sat there with masks on etc...there was an idiot yes I’ve called him an idiot as he sat in front coughing the whole time I was there. In these times do I need to say how anxiety inducing this is for snorkel person let alone someone like me who suffers from anxiety. My vaccine appointment is next week so not vaccinated- he was facing in front and I was behind him - both wearing masks
I’ve attached a bad diagram but sat here freaking out that he has passed on something to me...possibly Covid

Freaking out please help me calm down
OP posts:
Sadieeloise5687 · 21/05/2021 07:08

Supersonic - tonsillitis can be infectious. Your dd shouldn’t have been out and about coughing on people. That lady was right to glare at you. If you are ill - stay at home. We are in the middle of a pandemic it’s a perfectly normal reaction to not to want to get sick. My dd nearly died from someone selfishly going out and about coughing with what they probably thought ‘was just a cold’. What’s a low risk illness for some is not for others. It’s selfish to go out and about with infectious disease whatever that disease is, and more so during the worst pandemic in modern times.

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 21/05/2021 07:33

Yes I’m absolutely against people coming into work spluttering all over the place and spreading germs- Covid or not. Every winter but I’ve had has come from work- mostly after a meeting whereby someone clearly full of cold sits there touching every surface and coughing in all our faces.

The people who support this behaviour will be part of the problem- not the solution

OP posts:
takemetothelakes · 21/05/2021 07:55

I agree about people not coming into work when they are unwell and I've always felt that. I'd hoped that Covid would make people realise the potential impact of this.
If I had a cold or cough from now on, I would work from home or call in sick if I felt too unwell to work.

Someone turns up with a cold, passes it around the team and more people end up poorly.
Some will get infections worse than others so will take time off then they risk a bollocking.
I've actually had sickness absence management action started after I took time off when I'd caught the infection from a colleague in the office. How is that fair?

LondonSE · 21/05/2021 08:04

Doesn't matter whether covid or not. If its a chest infection, could be viral or bacterial.he should stay home and not spread his germs.

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 21/05/2021 08:26

Thank you- that’s my issue as well. Obviously even a pandemic couldn’t make people change their ways we do t have a hope fo we?

OP posts:
purpleme12 · 21/05/2021 08:31

If you think the should be the policy covid or not perhaps you should suggest it then

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 21/05/2021 08:41

Everything doesn’t need a ‘policy’ to drive it. Are we not capable of making decisions anymore?
Remote working has been well established in many places last year, you really don’t have an excuse to come in spreading diseases. If the whole point is to show or look at me I’m here even when I’m dying, I’m sure you can still put that show over MS Teams, book a meeting, keep your volume high microphone close and keep coughing every so often into it....

OP posts:
Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 21/05/2021 08:42

I have raised it in the past in a q&a with the execs and all agreed that it will not be acceptable any longer

OP posts:
purpleme12 · 21/05/2021 08:49

Well clearly it does have to be a policy if that's what you think should happen and it's not happening naturally...
And clearly a lot of people don't think like this...
But hey ho just some suggestions to every point raised here

supersonicginandtonic · 21/05/2021 09:27

@Sadieeloise5687 oh do one. My daughter wasn't infectious. The GP said she was absolutely fine to go to school and to be out and about as long as she felt well enough.
I live in the real world and realise life goes on and have to go about life as normal as we can. If you feel like that you stay at home. It's not people's faults they have coughs for illnesses is it?
OP ni they shouldn't send an email out if Courtesy/ their medical conditions have nothing to do with you.

jupitermars1345 · 21/05/2021 12:00

Why are you calling him a idiot when you don't even know that he hasn't done a pcr and is negative?
If he is negative he doesn't have to isolate because he has a cough

You are not being logical
I understand. I am the same. I freak out when people cough near me on the bus. Trying to work on it. I've been around loads of people hacking and coughing and haven't had so much as a cold since February 2020 🤷‍♀️

People do cough for all sorts of reasons and covid is just one of those. Doesn't mean it's covid .

Can you see this is anxiety?

purpleme12 · 21/05/2021 12:06

I'm not sure that it's worth trying to get OP to see anymore....I don't think she's going to...

Jourdain11 · 21/05/2021 12:24

I'm struggling to believe this isn't a wind up! DH has been coughing and sneezing for weeks - it's hayfever. DD2 coughs off and on all year round because of asthma. Neither of them have Covid, yet according to this they should isolate at home just in case their coughing offends people?

The poor bloke probably had a chest infection, or asthma, or hayfever. I doubt at this point that anyone with an unexplained cough would go into work if they hadn't done a test. Even if he did have Covid, you probably wouldn't catch it. Even if you did catch it, you probably wouldn't be particularly unwell. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I feel like a bit of rational perspective is needed here!

SmidgenofaPigeon · 21/05/2021 12:33

OP doesn’t do rational perspective 😂

purpleme12 · 21/05/2021 12:36

@Jourdain11

I'm struggling to believe this isn't a wind up! DH has been coughing and sneezing for weeks - it's hayfever. DD2 coughs off and on all year round because of asthma. Neither of them have Covid, yet according to this they should isolate at home just in case their coughing offends people?

The poor bloke probably had a chest infection, or asthma, or hayfever. I doubt at this point that anyone with an unexplained cough would go into work if they hadn't done a test. Even if he did have Covid, you probably wouldn't catch it. Even if you did catch it, you probably wouldn't be particularly unwell. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I feel like a bit of rational perspective is needed here!

Unfortunately I can believe some people do think like this...
CousinKrispy · 21/05/2021 12:53

Hi OP, it is really a bit scary setting foot back in the office after all this, isn't it? My team and I definitely found it weird the first few days when we came back, but quickly settled in and felt very reassured by the safety policies & procedures put in place.

I'd suggest you speak with your employer for reassurance on:
*has the ventilation been checked to ensure it is adequate?
*what's the policy for someone showing symptoms of covid, such as a continuous cough? Are they required to self-isolate and/or test?

As others have said, people can cough for reasons other than covid. It could even be for something that isn't contagious. If your colleague has already tested negative (and furthermore is aware of what is probably causing his cough, e.g. asthma), you need to trust the safety measures put in place.

Also thank you for the typo "snorkel people" which has made my day!

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 21/05/2021 13:00

@CousinKrispy thank you, i don’t know how predictive texting came up with ‘snorkel people’!!

I’m working from home so not trying to think about next week but yes I felt very uncomfortable going back in.

And found out that he has called in sick today...didn’t want to know anymore at this point. I’ve ordered LFTs as would need them anyways

I will raise these units next week not formally but in an informal way for now for my own assurance

OP posts:
LondonSE · 21/05/2021 13:29

Glad you have the backing of your execs OP. Sick people should stay home with anything potentially contagious, covid or not.

takemetothelakes · 21/05/2021 13:37

@SmidgenofaPigeon

OP doesn’t do rational perspective 😂
Don't be a twat. Why is this fear funny? Is anxiety a source of amusement for you?
Jourdain11 · 21/05/2021 13:46

Anxiety is not in the slightest bit funny, but at the same time, everyone has a responsibility to recognise and cope with their own anxieties. It's neither fair nor realistic to expect the world to adapt in order for one's own anxieties to be made manageable.

If worried - you could ask the guy if he's okay (even a "jokey" oh-dear-I-hope-it's-not-Covid would probably shed light on the situation). Or, just do an LFT. Appreciate it's now too late to go with the former ... But for another occasion.

Dandylioness1 · 21/05/2021 13:48

Oh op. You poor thing.

I’m not sure anything we say can help, it sounds like you might need some support for anxiety?

However I do know how you feel.

I wasn’t in the office last year and when I went back a few months ago I felt like a nervous wreck.

My anxiety was so heightened, I was so aware of every cough / sneeze.

I’ve been back a few months now and I can tell you I no longer feel that anxious.

Try to take some perspective on this...
You were both 2m apart, had masks on and you were behind this person.
I would say that’s not something to be overly concerned by.

manicwhatday · 21/05/2021 14:04

@Freak1ng0ut

No I’m not taking notice of posts asking me to calm down. Given the year we had I think this is a ‘normal’ reaction...

Sorry to say, but I don’t think this is a normal reaction (and that’s coming from someone who has been cautious throughout)

I myself have an intermittent cough, which I’ve had for a long time, caused by acid reflux.

Not only are you assuming that your colleague has Covid, but you’re accusing him of coming into work with Covid and then willingly passing it on to his colleagues.

You’ve then mentioned this cough in an email to him...
No wonder he hasn’t replied. Confused

It’s tough for people that haven’t had the experience of working in an a office throughout this. I don’t think you will be the only person that will struggle to integrate back into “the real world”.

CharlotteRose90 · 21/05/2021 14:11

You need to chill out. I have
Asthma and have to cough like that sometimes. Not everything is covid related.

SmidgenofaPigeon · 21/05/2021 14:11

@takemetothelakes OP asked to be calmed down and I presumed she posted because she was aware that her anxiety was causing her to be irrational. However, she only wanted to take on board those posts that pandered to her anxiety and agreed that the bloke with a cough must be an idiot and probably had covid, which chances are, is not the case at all. So yeah, I stand by what I said- OP isn’t capable of rational thought in this situation and isn’t interested in logic.

Jourdain11 · 21/05/2021 14:21

Also, not nice that if someone has cough = idiot. What if they have a chronic cough and can't help it?!

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