Work..

[trs12345]

I had gotten my first job on Friday and I started Saturday. This job happens to be at Taco Bell. Now, I can’t exacty complain, as the minimum pay is 9.00 an hour, and I’m personally being started off at 9.50 an hour, but my emetophobia has increased drastically.

Yesterday, or two days ago, I should say, I was ordered to stay in the lobby (in other words, the dining room where the customers eat) and watch training videos. I’ve been completely consumed by my paranoia that the area I was sitting on had to have had someone who was sick with Noro sitting there before. My hands have touched the table. I’ve also had my sweater, my hat, my phone, and my headphones there as well.

I didn’t directly touch my mouth, but the cords on my headphones touched right below and did hit my bottom lip while I was putting my sweater back on, causing instant anxiety. To make matters worse, after I finished the videos, I was ordered to wash the dishes. The water kept splashing off the dirty plates and hitting my mouth, irrating and increasing my anxiety.

On top of that, I woke up today with some sharp-ish, but not severe stomach pains. They went away after a few minutes, but their very presence was enough to make me paranoid. As of now, I’m not really in pain, but I have this weird foreshadowing type of feeling in my abdominal region that basically makes me think I’m going to be in pain very soon..

I’m just nervous that I got myself sick by touching things at work. So yeah, I could use some reassurance.

[mmr1122]

Hi! I know exactly what you are going through. Try to think about the amount of people you know that touched that table, AND touched food that went right into their mouth and didnt get sick. That always helps me. I usually think of someone I know that rarely vomits but is not a dedicated hand-washer. Best of luck!!

[blackrabbit]

Congrats on the job. You're fine. Plus, you might even develop immunity from touching things that many people touch every day. Which is a good thing.