Major Pet Peeve Day
Sitting around with a virus all day means more time on the interwebs than normal. Side effects of this can be information overload on social websites, and seeing things and cringing a little (not just from nausea).
1. If you don't have kids, please don't offer snarky advice on raising kids. Being a teacher is an awesome, hard job, but it doesn't make you a parenting expert. I used to teach preschool before I became a mom, and I had all sorts of opinions, but I had no idea what those parents were going through. There's more than meets the eye.
2. When a virus spreads, it grates me when people try to pinpoint "patient zero". A nasty stomach virus is spreading through our church (upwards of 50 people) since Sunday. Apparently, a poor older gentleman got sick in the lobby during the service, and now he's being "blamed" as a culprit. Maybe people don't mean to sound like that when they refer to him, but do we really need to discuss someone else's unfortunate vomit timing all over facebook? Not to mention, he got it from somewhere too. He didn't mix it up in a lab and come to church. Others were sick before he was. But he was public, therefore, he is assigned responsibility. (Face palm)
3. Speaking of viruses, why do they always seem to hit me and my children on nights when Seth is at work cleaning up other people's vomit?
Of course, all things in balance, so here's a list of good things to counteract the peeves.
1. Stomach viruses mean weight loss.
2. Overall, facebook has been pretty funny today.
3. I got to read a lot today. That hasn't happened in ages.
4. Seth will be home in about two hours. And he seems to have only been mildly infected. I told him something like "we'll see", and he pounded his chest with a fist and said "Is strong. Like bull."
5. Thing Two didn't get hit hard either, which is a blessing, because he's the one in the family with an indiscriminate splash zone.
6. Nothing like a virus to make you appreciate the little things, like sitting upright and drinking water.
Stay hydrated people.
1. If you don't have kids, please don't offer snarky advice on raising kids. Being a teacher is an awesome, hard job, but it doesn't make you a parenting expert. I used to teach preschool before I became a mom, and I had all sorts of opinions, but I had no idea what those parents were going through. There's more than meets the eye.
2. When a virus spreads, it grates me when people try to pinpoint "patient zero". A nasty stomach virus is spreading through our church (upwards of 50 people) since Sunday. Apparently, a poor older gentleman got sick in the lobby during the service, and now he's being "blamed" as a culprit. Maybe people don't mean to sound like that when they refer to him, but do we really need to discuss someone else's unfortunate vomit timing all over facebook? Not to mention, he got it from somewhere too. He didn't mix it up in a lab and come to church. Others were sick before he was. But he was public, therefore, he is assigned responsibility. (Face palm)
3. Speaking of viruses, why do they always seem to hit me and my children on nights when Seth is at work cleaning up other people's vomit?
Of course, all things in balance, so here's a list of good things to counteract the peeves.
1. Stomach viruses mean weight loss.
2. Overall, facebook has been pretty funny today.
3. I got to read a lot today. That hasn't happened in ages.
4. Seth will be home in about two hours. And he seems to have only been mildly infected. I told him something like "we'll see", and he pounded his chest with a fist and said "Is strong. Like bull."
5. Thing Two didn't get hit hard either, which is a blessing, because he's the one in the family with an indiscriminate splash zone.
6. Nothing like a virus to make you appreciate the little things, like sitting upright and drinking water.
Stay hydrated people.
Comments
I'm also going to roll my eyes a little if our congregation becomes germaphobes now. If people stop shaking hands, I'm going to go for full on kisses on the mouth. That'll fix it.
i don't think most people care about sicknesses such as colds, coughs, strep, bronchitis, etc... i don't worry where my kids got sick because those germs are everywhere. although i have been reamed out for letting my kids get someone else's sick, which just reminded me to not schedule as many play dates with those children.
HOWEVER, when a virus attacks 80+ people in a specific public place, the original INCIDENT (not person) in that specific place is necessary for several reasons:
the virus can be identified, resulting in proper disinfecting and prevention to prevent further spreading. No one thinks he came and did this on purpose, but had he known he had been exposed, I doubt he would've been there.
This virus has actually KILLED people. Therefore, even I am taking necessary precautions so as not to spread it. I wouldn't have known how to properly disinfect it had it not been identified. My normal methods of cleaning up 'normal' sicknesses involves wet paper towels. Now I know not to be around my friend's 1 week old baby, my TS hostess who has severe Crohn's, or those with compromised immune systems. Had it not been identified and I not known it is capable of killing, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.
also, it has calmed down a lot of nervous people. there were speculations that the church had been intentionally 'poisoned', that the virus was in our water supply, and other events that could have caused this (some even more far fetched). Knowing it was from a specific incident has allowed people to be okay with going to church again.
no one is concerned with the identity of the man as far as placing blame, and those who don't know who it was haven't even asked. they're just glad to know where it came from, that it's being handled properly, and that we can all go back into church without freaking out (except those who were already germaphobes).
I'm on your 'side' as far as normal illnesses, but with those highly contagious, deadly illnesses, I think it's important to be able to pinpoint the original incident for the reasons I listed above.
and I appreciate having a friend that I usually agree with on everything, have something I somewhat disagree with. it's good for the friendship. ;)
She said that unless we all waded through the puddle (those were her exact words, hehe) it's highly unlikely that there was a sole source, which I tend to agree with b/c Homegirl was sick last week. Even so, it doesn't really matter, unless there is terrorism or food suspected, which was pretty easily ruled out.
And yes, it can kill. Virtually any virus can kill. But even Norovirus is only responsible for about 600 deaths a year in the US, most of which occur in hospitals or nursing homes where people already have compromised immune systems.
And yes, there has been a lot of freaking out. It sucks to have so many sick, yeah, but it's certainly not unheard of, and statistically, we're not in any serious danger. We'll be smart, clean up, disinfect, and move on.
And I stand by my kissing on the mouth. :)