Story of the Day: Man Checks His Blood Sugar at His Desk When C-Worker Has Severe Blood Phobia

A man and his new coworker cannot reach a compromise because he prefers to check his blood sugar at his desk, and his coworker has severe blood and needle phobia.

As a person with type one diabetes, David needs to check his blood sugar regularly throughout the day and admit insulin if necessary. The quick process involves pricking his finger and drawing blood on a test strip read by a portable glucose meter.

Since David's condition is well-known throughout the company and the human resource office, he has never had any issues checking his blood sugar at his work desk in his office. Most of his coworkers are understanding and accomodating.

However, the company recently hired a new associate, Todd, to work closely with David. The two seemed to get along swimmingly until last week when James walked into David's office and caught him checking his blood sugar.

As soon as Todd saw the blood and needles on the desk, his face turned white, and he staggered a few steps before falling to the ground with a loud thud!

After Todd regained consciousness, he revealed that he had a severe blood and needle phobia, and although he was in therapy for his condition, he still couldn't stand the sight or even thought of blood.

David felt really bad about Todd's condition. He explained that he needed to check his blood sugar throughout the day because any unnoted changes in his blood sugar could lead to serious health consequences.

At first, Todd seemed understanding and relayed his own concerns about accidentally walking into David's office and fainting in the future since their jobs required constant collaboration. David responded:

"How about I warn you whenever I am checking my blood sugar?"

Todd refused the suggestion and said that even knowing that there might be blood in the office would stress him out. David then suggested that he could even shut his door to his office, but Todd still refused.

Instead, Todd argued that David should check his blood sugar in the bathroom despite knowing that it would be unsanitary since the entire company uses the same bathroom.

As the conversation got heated, Todd accused David of refusing to compromise while David insisted he was within his rights to check his blood sugar in his office since it wasn't a shared space.

Once it became clear that Todd and David had reached an impasse, they decided to take the matter to the human resources office for mediation. What do you think is the best compromise for the coworkers?

In another workplace debacle, a man reported his coworker for constantly trying to force-feed him.