Is your car making your coworker sick!?

Yeah, this title does mean I've been sick and it's lingering.  Thanks to an office mate who brought back a nice virulent strain of H1N1 from his recent trip to Mexico, the entire office has been a ghost town for about a week. 

My question is this....did his car make me sick?  And to answer my own question, I'll actually say "Yes".

Here's my logic (and you can see if you agree).  First off....we work in an office were people are pretty type A and actually like the work they do.  So I want to say no one hates coming to work and they don't tend to take sick days.  However, here's the scenario.

You wake up and you don't feel that great....not horrible....just not top notch. So what do you do. You don't "want" to go to work and make people sick (no one here is that kind of jerk anyway), but you have project work that needs to get done. So you rationalize and say you'll get ready for work and see how you feel. So you drag yourself out of bed, lean against the wall while you shower, and forgo breakfast because you just don't have the energy to make it. And at this point, since you made it this far without passing out, hacking up a lung, or vomiting, you decide you're probably "ok" to head for work. And why not, sitting down into your plush automobile and pushing pedals, turning a wheel, etc. is probably the least energetic thing you've asked of that sick body all morning. And as such, it kinda makes the decision for you. And then, there you are in the office getting coworkers sick.

Now a moment to clarify....I'm not trying to blame.  I'm just saying the above is kinda how we all roll when feeling a bit sick.  And when you want to do your job well and get things done on time you push through.  But it does sometimes make things worse, not better.

Now lets consider an alternative morning scenario....

You wake up and you don't feel that great....not horrible....just not top notch.  So what do you do.  You don't "want" to go to work and make people sick (no one here is that kind of jerk anyway), but you have project work that needs to get done.  So you rationalize and say you'll get ready for work and see how you feel.  So you drag yourself out of bed, lean against the wall while you shower, and forgo breakfast because you just don't have the energy to make it.  And at this point, since you made it this far without passing out, hacking up a lung, or vomiting, you decide you're probably "ok" to head for work. 

And then it dawns you, that you have two options on how to get to work...option 1 is get bundled into your bike gear, throw a leg over the top tube, and start grinding out what will obviously be 7 slow miles to work (so you should probably leave earlier to boot).  Then work the day, and ride those same 7 slow miles home.  Or .....option 2 is walk in the cold morning down to the bus stop, wait in the cold for the bus, ride to work (perhaps having to transfer buses).....work....then repeat the process at the end of the day. 

Neither of these sounds anywhere close to reasonable, so you call in and let work know you're not coming in, and at the very best, working from home.  As a result, everyone else stays healthy and doesn't lose a day or two themselves.

 So, what do you say.  I say alternative transportation saves the day in yet another way!  I'd argue that probably, your car did make me sick this week!