Subscriber Comments for
Coughing Conundrum

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 104298	2010-09-11 10:45 AM
Approach with a face mask on and wear rubber gloves.
COMMENT 104301P	2010-09-11 10:59 AM
Earphones and music for everyone.
COMMENT 104304P	2010-09-11 11:08 AM
How about being glad you don't have a chronic condition that causes coughing and stop being so anal about it?
COMMENT 104305	2010-09-11 11:12 AM
Find another job?
COMMENT 104320	2010-09-11 12:07 PM
Give her a pack of lemon-honey cough drops. I imagine hearing her is like Chinese water torture where you wait for the next drop; you and co-workers must be waiting for the next cough. Sad for the person to have the chronic condition, maybe a doctor in needed to help her. JP
COMMENT 104321	2010-09-11 12:15 PM
Tyranny by the minority. Same as working with a constant chatterer. If this chronic condition reasonably interferes with the concentration of the other workers and impedes their ability to get their own work done, it is the chronic cougher who has to adapt to the group needs and not the other way around. She needs to be moved to a location where she does not create a negative impact on her fellow workers. Accommodations works both ways. Same as if she had offensive body odor, constant hiccups or any other reasonably distracting sensory interference with work efficiencies. The majority of workers do retain some rights in the work place for a work-efficient setting that does not interfere with their own abilities to get their job done. Most likely the operating standard is fear of a discrimination lawsuit.
COMMENT 104304P	2010-09-11 12:20 PM
How about, grow up and tune it out?
COMMENT 104326	2010-09-11 12:24 PM
Hope it is not whooping cough, I just got over that.
COMMENT 104332	2010-09-11 12:36 PM
tolerance, people. remember what day this is.
COMMENT 104341P	2010-09-11 01:02 PM
A persistent cough can be from something non-contagious like night-time gastric reflux. Left untreated, it can become a serious esophageal condition. Your supervisor should be aware that this is affecting productivity and take steps to isolate the individual.
COMMENT 104321	2010-09-11 01:10 PM
Chronic use of sugar-based cough drops cause cavities. Lemon-honey drops would not be a good idea. A good medical work-up is in order as the source of coughing is not always from a throat irritation. Does this worker have a medical plan and a workplace wellness program?
COMMENT 104349	2010-09-11 01:48 PM
Coughs and sneezes cause diseases - always use your hankerchiev- es!
SHOREBIRD	2010-09-11 03:12 PM
Tell her that it probably won't happen again but years ago someone coughed just like she does and it made you temporarily insane and you tried to choke her but you were acquited of all charges. If she values your freedom and her life she will leave her desk when she feels a cough coming on.
COMMENT 104355	2010-09-11 03:21 PM
Go by the co-workers desk, and start singing the lyrics to the "Respect Yourself" song from the Staples Singers. If you're walking 'round think'n that the world owes you something cause you're here You goin' out the world backwards like you did when you you first come here. Keep talkin' 'bout the President won't stop evolution Put your hand on your mouth when you cough, that'll help the solution
COMMENT 104357	2010-09-11 03:37 PM
I feel for you. We have a pretty flexible office in that you don't really have to come in all the time. One of my office mates comes in only when she is sick. Yes, I think its really strange. Its hard to tune out that notion in my mind, I think its pretty rude. Yes she does come in other times, but when she gets sick, I guess she doesn't like to stay home. I think its a personal duty to stay home when you are sick, not just to get better, but to keep your neighbors healthy too. I also think that it is harder for some people to tune out stuff like that than others. I know noises really influence my productivity, smells - not so much.
COMMENT 104365P	2010-09-11 05:21 PM
Sometimes when my dog keeps barking, I shake a can of rocks at him or use a small squirt gun. It works on him...
COMMENT 104304P	2010-09-11 06:16 PM
104341P, Isolate the person? Seriously? If it's a chronic cough, its' not contagious and people should learn to just deal with it. If this person had tourrette's for example, people would have to deal with a far more distracting symptom. Also, you should know that acid reflux can go untreated for virtually a lifetime and the chances of it developing into an esophageal abnormality (Barret's esophagus) are even then still around the less than 2% mark. If you're gonna play doctor, at least play a doctor not educated by the pharmaceutical industry and leave it to the real professionals to announce the risks of untreated possible ailments, please.
COMMENT 104376P	2010-09-11 06:30 PM
My wife used to keep me up at night coughing, and coughing, and coughing. It wasn't like snoring where I had to convince her that she was doing it. She knew. Of course it bothered me a lot. And, I did complain about it at times. (I even wrote a complaining poem) But, I figured it was worth the price of love. It turned out that her problem was some kind of reflux. And now everything is fine.
COMMENT 104355	2010-09-11 07:27 PM
@104376P-- everything's fine now because you divorced your wife?
COMMENT 104389	2010-09-11 07:51 PM
Maybe it's your cologne, your lotion, or your laundry detergent taht makes this person cough all day. Lots of people are hypersensitive to perfumes and scents which lead to chronic coughing.
COMMENT 104395	2010-09-11 07:59 PM
It is up to the management to determine the reason that the person coughs. Obviously this can be done in private, and in a concerned manner. Only when it is determined why the coughing is occurring...can a resoultion be agreed upon together. Compassion and action do not have to be mutually exclusive. I hope the coworker seeks help and gets the coughing resolved.
COMMENT 104398	2010-09-11 08:20 PM
I'd go to HR and ask them to handle it - that's their job. If she has Hepatitis, TB or Whooping Cough you'll be doing everyone a favor. I once worked at a place where the same employee kept coming to work sick and wiping out our whole department with viral bronchitis. If that doesn't work try the "rocks in a can" idea proposed above.Just make sure the lid is loose before you shake it at them.
COMMENT 104399	2010-09-11 08:38 PM
It is also can be a sign of lung cancer.
COMMENT 104349	2010-09-11 08:44 PM
104365P This gets my vote for the best laugh on this thread....
COMMENT 104408	2010-09-12 07:40 AM
In the short term, buy some earplugs and make sure your pertussis immunization is up to date. Talk to a boss about getting the person temporarily moved and make sure they have been adequately evaluated by a physician. Remember, they don't call pertussis "the hundred day cough" for nothing.
COMMENT 104416	2010-09-12 08:10 AM
Could also be a form of asthma.
COMMENT 104425	2010-09-12 09:14 AM
ace inhibitors, such as lisinopril used to treat high blood pressure, amongst other things, can cause chronic cough.
COMMENT 104349	2010-09-12 09:36 AM
My husband has a severe allergy to dust and airborne particles such as pollen. If he is not in a clear environment he will be uncomfortable and cough continuously. The gardener with his blower and mower is his arch enemy. Perhaps this person could be persuaded to have allergy tests?
COMMENT 104365P	2010-09-12 09:37 AM
maybe your cougher needs to quit smoking???
COMMENT 104431	2010-09-12 09:40 AM
Agreed. This coughing can be a huge sign of something more serious. Secondly, the writer is having trouble with this as are other why not give her the respect the she is trying to solve her issue. I feel for you. Thirdly, think of the business owner-if all or most of my employees are chronically distracted how efficient and accurate are they in their work?
MUSIC MAN	2010-09-12 09:55 AM
To 104349 Please add: Coughs and sneezes cause diseases - always use your hankerchiev- es! "or, perhaps, your shirt's long sleev-es!"
COMMENT 104349	2010-09-12 10:53 AM
Right, Music Man :-)
COMMENT 104449P	2010-09-12 11:23 AM
It could be an allergy caused by eye medication that must be used evryday for glaucoma. She can see a specialist and control this.
COMMENT 104456P	2010-09-12 12:18 PM
Could be worse. I have a coworker that clips his nails at his desk, sometimes multiple times/day. I cannot tune it out. That high-pitched clipping sound makes me temporarily insane. I wish he'd just go into the bathroom to take care of his personal stuff. And as for the person who says to grow up and and tune it out - if you do a little research, you'll find that many of us cannot just "tune it out". Count yourself lucky that you are able to, but a lot of people can't.
COMMENT 104462	2010-09-12 12:54 PM
This person could be complaining about me. I have a mild form of asthma (called airways hyperreactivity) and choose not to take drugs (which may or may not stop the cough and may or may not cause other symptoms). So I cough periodically throughout the day and night. It's probably more annoying to me than it is to you. Please be tolerant . . . you never know what other people may be going through.
COMMENT 104304P	2010-09-13 07:25 AM
I think if I were the boss here and my employees came to me with this as an "issue" I'd actually be questioning their competency for not being able to just be adults and deal with it. People have become so entitled that they act like small children. Just get on with it!
COMMENT 104643P	2010-09-13 01:00 PM
Please. If someone spent all day long humming a tune, or laughing uncontrollably, or popping their gum, or whistling dixie, none of you would hesitate to stop them. So what is different with a cougher? While I believe all of these Edda columns are made up, this "person" is clearly disrupting the workplace. They need to be removed. Perhaps put in another room. Someone mentioned Tourettes. If someone with Tourettes worked there the company would have every right to move the individual to an area where their tics would not disrupt the workplace.
COMMENT 104932	2010-09-14 05:11 PM
I cough/sneeze into my shirt... pulling the collar up over my nose. I have a toddler... if I hug him after coughing/sneezing into my shirt sleeve, I'm still going to get germs on him. 'Course, he's a bit of an incubator who gets us sick way more often than we get him sick. ;) You are all making me think of one of the first few scenes in Office Space, where Peter is listening to Nina say, over... and over... and over.... "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." "Corporate Counsels Payroll, Nina speaking. Just a moment." . . . .

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