66 replies to this topic

[jesscarmel]

I'm really upset! today a kid at work came up to me and asked me if i was sick. i said actually i am sick, i have a cold. he said "oh well i did something to your keyboard." the short story is he was in my office wiht this therapist and another therapist and she told him to cough on my keyboard (he was sick) so i would get sick i geuss. when i confronted her about it (she is my friend by the way) she laughed and said they did do that, they thoguht it was funny and then said sorry. i geuss they think its funny becasue i disiinfect my desk and stuff every couple of days becaseu the kids we work wtih have very poor hygiene, i worke in a resdiential facility. anwywas do ppl agree that this is upsetting? or am i overreacting?

Jess

[Guhlia]

Jess, that is truely HORRIBLE. I would be so upset with your so-called "friend". That's just disrespectful and rude, not to mention unhealthy. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Hope you feel better soon!

[penguin]

And that's when you tell your boss...that's absolutely ridiculous! I'm sorry that happened to you

[jesscarmel]

Jess, that is truely HORRIBLE. I would be so upset with your so-called "friend". That's just disrespectful and rude, not to mention unhealthy. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Hope you feel better soon!

Thanks Angie! i know, i really thought we were friends. just this mornign she was asking me to come to her party tommorow night??!! then i wondered what if they put gluteny foods on my desk?? okay mabye that's paranoid but who knows? i am really mad and will probably have to confront her on monday because i am very angry about this!

[jerseyangel]

My gosh Jess, that's horrible. I can't believe a "friend" did that to you.

Overreacting? Not at all--they should be ashamed of themselves.

For once, I'm speechless--I'm sorry that it happened to you

[jesscarmel]

And that's when you tell your boss...that's absolutely ridiculous! I'm sorry that happened to you

Hey Penguin!
i actually told my boss who is my good friend...also weird. i sort of work in a weird place and she thought it was mean but didnt really say anything. my fianccee is so upset and wants me to go to the director but i feel like i should confront her directly.
hope you are doing better than me! also we are getting oru dog tommorow so that should cheer me up!

[jesscarmel]

My gosh Jess, that's horrible. I can't believe a "friend" did that to you.

Overreacting? Not at all--they should be ashamed of themselves.

For once, I'm speechless--I'm sorry that it happened to you

the weird thing is shes not a mean person so i cant figure it out. i know they think im really neurtoic about germs and sort of prissy which i admit to, but we are a very close knit team of six clinicians, we get together on the weekends sometimes so this is just really bizzare. i think she thought it wsa really funny and didnt think i would find out or be mad.

[penguin]

I'm good. I hope you get over the cold soon!

I would tell the director personally, it's something that needs to be taken seriously. Making you purposefully sick is definitely harrassment if not assault. Definitely unacceptable. Especially since your health is already comprimised because of celiac. It's truly unthinkable that someone, especially an adult, especially a friend, would do that. And what kind of counselors are they anyway, helping the kid do it?!

[Guhlia]

I agree with the others, you definitely need to have this type of behavior taken care of. It's just not fair that they did something like that to you, even if you wouldn't have gotten sick. As for the gluten thing, I don't think you're being paranoid at all. I would ask her directly if they've ever done anything like that w/ gluten and explain how very serious your illness is and that exposure could not only make you sick, but it could also contribute to life long health problems.

Argh... I'm fuming at just the thought of this.

[jesscarmel]

I agree with the others, you definitely need to have this type of behavior taken care of. It's just not fair that they did something like that to you, even if you wouldn't have gotten sick. As for the gluten thing, I don't think you're being paranoid at all. I would ask her directly if they've ever done anything like that w/ gluten and explain how very serious your illness is and that exposure could not only make you sick, but it could also contribute to life long health problems.

Argh... I'm fuming at just the thought of this.

I know i really need to do something. im horrible at this stuff, confronting people. i'm alrady percieved as being dramatic so its hard for me when something really does need to be made a big deal of. i know my superiviosr, who is differnet from my director, will be furious about this and will go nuts so im not sure i should tell her or speak again to my director and not involve my superivisor. i feel like i want to lock my office now, i dont even have a key. we let all the kids go into each others office with clinicians cause we all have differnt toys. i have alot of toys so kids like to go in there, i would hate to have to lock it. also it is very clinically innapropriate to have a child do that and i know my sup would freak out about that, inolving a child in something innapropriate...

[Jestgar]

Maybe someone should freak out about this. Teaching this kind of behaviour to children is also inappropriate and a parent might find out about this sort of thing and shut you down.

[nikki182]

Wow, I can't believe there are people out there who would do something like that! You're not overreacting at all; what they did was downright rude. I'm sorry that you have to put up with people like that. I'd say it's also pretty irresponsible of someone to purposely spread germs in an area where little kids come in to play. Whether or not you decide to talk to your boss, I think you should confront the "friends". If you could tell them how serious it is that they purposely made you sick when you already have a compromised immune system, without being too emotional (though it will be hard since they were so rude), I think you can make them see that what they did was absolutely not funny like they think and that it was very disrespectful. What if she unknowingly had something worse than a cold and passed it on to you?

BTW, I think I'm going to go get some disinfectant spray. Now I'm paranoid...

[jerseyangel]

But Jess, the clinician *did* involve the child. Playing a "trick"--no matter how thoughtless or cruel--on a co-worker is one thing. But she crossed the line by involving the child.

In my mind, the Supervisor has good reason to 'freak out' about this. I'm the same way when it comes to confrontation, but in a case like this, I would definately have to say something.

[Ursa Major]

I know i really need to do something. im horrible at this stuff, confronting people. i'm alrady percieved as being dramatic so its hard for me when something really does need to be made a big deal of. i know my superiviosr, who is differnet from my director, will be furious about this and will go nuts so im not sure i should tell her or speak again to my director and not involve my superivisor. i feel like i want to lock my office now, i dont even have a key. we let all the kids go into each others office with clinicians cause we all have differnt toys. i have alot of toys so kids like to go in there, i would hate to have to lock it. also it is very clinically innapropriate to have a child do that and i know my sup would freak out about that, inolving a child in something innapropriate...

Jess, I agree, this is awful on many levels. For therapists to tell a kid to do something that would make somebody sick is inexcusable. It teaches the child that it is okay to play dangerous tricks on people, to keep secrets, to bully others (because it is a form of bullying) and other things I can't think of right now.

Your collegues were being mean spiritited, and it shows what they REALLY think about you, that they did that. After something like this I would have a hard time still thinking of them as friends.

I don't think it is too much to go to your supervisor about this. Since nobody else seems to see the seriousness of this behaviour, which means that it can happen again, you may need to go to her. As you say, she would be furious about what happened (rightfully so), and will hopefully make it extremely clear to everybody involved that there will be serious consequences if she ever hears of another incident like that.

I hope your new dog will help you feel better.