They call it "Con-Plague" for a reason...

One of my favorite web comic artists has been saying on his update blog for nearly two weeks that he was suffering from Con-Plague. In his post today, he said that although he felt that the virus was on it's last legs, he would still be attending yet another con today, but asked in advance that people forgive him for not shaking any hands, as he doesn't want to spread it.

I love this artist dearly, seriously one of my favorites, but it seems to me... logically... that this very sort of thing is what keeps "Con-Plague" rampent: "Mer... I'm sick, because I went to a crowded hotel full of hundreds/thousands of people, and this is actually so EXPECTED that we've got a name for it... yet I'm going to go into yet ANOTHER hotel full of several hundred OTHER people knowing that I have this plague... Oh... hey... maybe that's why I got in in the first place."

Seriously... if you're sick, stay the hell home. Yeah, I know you've been looking forward too it all year... yes, I know you spent lots of money on going and plan to make up the expenses in art sales.... but honestly, how much money are you going to make if you're far too sick to run your booth properly, and then you're out of commission for two weeks after trying to make your stomach contents into toilet bowl lining?

And how is that fair to the other people you infected, who are now also out of working health for who knows how long?

Con-Plague is a created thing; people need to stop treating it like some sucky thing that mysteriously and "unavoidably" just happens. Maybe if everyone took some responsibility, and considered the health of others over their immediate recreational satisfaction, it wouldn't be such a huge epidemic.

Zy almost never gets sick, but I had to nurse him in one of the worse fevers, aches, and puking fits I'd ever seen in the poor boy after his trip to FurCon07. He was completely nonfunctional and miserable for nearly 15 days.

Yeah, I know people will get sick, no matter what, and lots can carry but not show symptoms, but no one can deny that people going knowing they are sick makes it so much worse. Take schools, for instance. If you're sick now a days, the teachers won't LET you stay: they MAKE you go home now. Why? Because if you're allowed to stay in class when you're sick, it will spread, and then become a cycle, and going to school will inevitably mean you're going to get sick as often as it takes the virus to evolve past your current immunities.

Wait... what was that? That sort of thing is mostly preventable? Huh... imagine that!