Not so perfect after all...

Did you have perfect attendance when you were in school? Do you make it to work every single day, no matter what?

Even when you're sick?

Don't do that. And now, some schools are de-emphasizing their awards for students with perfect attendance, finally recognizing that sick kids don't belong in school. And that is a very good thing.

Yes, it is important to be in class. I'm old-fashioned that way. Unless a class was so dismal or ill-taught that I just couldn't stand it, I was in class every day I could be. And, believe me, there were classes like that. The upper division history course, for example, where all the professor ever did was show bad videos. I skipped the whole last half of the semester and apparently didn't miss a thing, since I ended up with an A on the final and for the semester. This is not, however, the recommended way to do school.

But, you know, if you're sick, you need to stay home and take care of yourself, whether we're talking about school, work, or just going out shopping.

The community college system I attended here in California had a very strict attendance policy: If you missed more than a total of a week of classes, the instructor could drop you. That meant, for example, if you were taking a Monday/Wednesday/Friday class, you got three absences for the semester. If you were taking a once-a-week night class, you got one absence. Some instructors made the whole thing even more draconian, docking one grade for every absence over the allowed number, whether you had a good excuse or not.

This led to people coming in to class with fevers, contagious, coughing and sneezing. In one night course I took, it led to a woman showing up the week after she had given birth, new baby in tow. She had only missed the week before because she was actually having the baby during the class period.

Now, I know why the district had such a strict policy. Because the community college system in California is technically part of the K-12 system, they generate their money from the state through FTEs. This means that the schools get their money by having students' butts in seats, just like elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools. If a student is absent on a particular day, the school doesn't get their money for that student for that day. It isn't exactly one-to-one like that, and there is a formula to figure FTE's, but it essentially boils down to that. The schools, then, have a vested interest in having every student in school every day.

But, as the linked article points out, some schools here in California are looking at whether having awards for perfect attendance encourages kids to come to school even when they are ill, which isn't good for the ill student and isn't good for the healthy kids, who might get sick when a contagious child shows up for class anyway. I don't know how many colds I got when I was working in the tutorial center at communnity college and got sneezed or coughed on by someone who had come to school, and to their tutorial sessions, sick. I would have had countless cases of the flu, as well, probably, except that I don't get the flu through some fluke of my immune system.

Personal experience makes me believe that employers should also rethink their sick leave policies. Now, if you're employed full time, you probably have some sort of system where you get to take a day or two or three off when you're ill. However, many retail stores who employ lots of part-time help, don't have any mechanism for sick leave for their employees.

This was the situation when I worked in retail. Part-time workers (which was everyone except management) could not accrue sick days and had to take off without pay if they were sick. First of all, many of those hourly employees could not afford to take a day off and so showed up sick. Above and beyond that, management discouraged workers from taking days off even when they were sick.

I got sick at work one day, with a horrible cold. I was miserable, sneezing and coughing, and the sore throat that came along with it made me completely lose my voice by the end of my shift. The next day, I called in sick - or rather attempted to, and finally had to have my mother talk to the person on the other end of the line because I couldn't make myself understood. I was told that I had to come in anyway, even though I couldn't talk. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to interact with customers (I was a cashier, and that was part of the job), but they wanted me there.

I told them no, that I would not be there, that I was going to the doctor if they wanted a note, but that there was no way I could work. I was threatened with firing if I didn't show. In the event, they didn't fire me, but my hours were cut back for a couple of weeks after I came back (I only missed that one shift that I was scheduled for), as punishment for being sick, I guess.

It will probably be a long time before some employers get the idea that having employees working sick is not good policy. But, with even a few schools leading the way, maybe the rest of the schools and at least some of the employers around the country will get finally get with the program and realize that a sick student is not going to learn well and an ill employee is not going to be very productive.

It will be interesting to see how this new paradigm develops, especially in an age when we worry more and more about things like flu pandemics and emerging diseases.

In the air...

If you're a regular reader, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted anything here for a couple of days.

I've wanted to write. I've had things I've wanted to write about. But, with the sinus headache from hell that I've had, I haven't really felt much like writing.

It's strange, too. I don't usually get allergy/sinus problems in the middle of winter. Spring, summer, and fall - yeah, sure. While I live in the middle of town, town is surrounded by agriculture. My county, in fact, is - economically speaking - the biggest agricultural county in the nation. In 2007, the last year for which I can find the numbers, agriculture production in the county was worth $5.3 billion. Among the crops grown are citrus, stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums, and so forth), grapes (for wine, raisins, and the table), cotton, and lots of others. And, it sometimes seems, I'm allergic to at least half of the local crops. Although, with the cotton, I think it's the defoliants they spray on before the pick the cotton that's the problem.

But, in the middle of the winter, there really isn't much floating around the be allergic to. Except, this year, the mold count in the air has been particularly high. And mold is another one of the things I'm allergic to. That's why my allergies are the worst in the fall, when the raisins are out to dry. You did know that they still make raisins by picking the grapes and laying they out on the ground on paper trays to dry in the sun, didn't you? That inevitably leads to mold, which gets in the air and causes people like me, who are allergic to the mold, absolute fits during that part of the year (usually late August through September, and maybe into the very beginning of October). But not during the winter. Usually.

It would be okay if I didn't have to actually go outside when the mold count is high. But, my roommate has also been sick, sicker than I've been, so I had to go out on Wednesday and take her to the doctor. And then, yesterday, because her doctor told her not to go back to work until Monday, I had to take her assignments and substitute instructions to school so that her students would have something to do yesterday and today. And then, I had a meeting that I had to go to yesterday morning. So, by the time I had been outside for a little while each day, the headache had descended.

I've been inside now since about 2 p.m. yesterday, and had a good night's sleep. Despite that, I still woke up with my sinuses feeling, well, not good. But, I wanted to at least sit down and post something here. Even if it is just me, complaining about how lousy I still feel.

I think it's supposed to rain sometime next week. Maybe that will wash some of the crap out of the air and I'll feel a little bit better. But, either way, I'm going to try not to let it get in the way of posting. Because I really miss doing this when I have to miss a day or two.

I just hope that if you're allergic to anything, it isn't giving you fits like this mold in the air is giving me. Oh, and I hope that there aren't too many typos in this post. For some reason, my spell-check isn't cooperating this morning, and I really don't have it in me to do a good proofread.