I don't want to get into an argument with you, as you did what you thought was best for your own situation, but, by not worrying about those other people, some of which were other babies, it's basically a way for you to conveniently justify your unsafe actions. You want everyone who changes their children's diapers to wash up so as not to pass germs on to you and your family, yet, you feel it's ok to board a plane with an obviously ill child?
Germs are germs, but in your case, because those germs would have cost you money (I notice you didn't say anything about how sick your child could have made the rest of the plane), you chose to ignore them. Those germs would have put you out - lost time, lost money, etc., and so for those reasons (and I suspect those were the main reasons), you chose to potentially infect an entire plane of people. Hmmm? Perhaps the people who are changing their child's diapers are on their way to a show, or, on their way to board a plane, and don't want to be late? They may in fact be using the same justifications for their irresponsible behaviour as you have in your response above.
You really have no business discussing the bad sanitation habits of others, when you allowed your obviously ill child to board a plane. Your first instinct was your loss of time and loss of money - what about the people on the plane who more than likely may have caught a virus from your daughter, and they are now out time and money from missing work? And before you think that I can't possibly understand, I do.
My 22 month old daughter became so ill at WDW that she almost died - she had a top to bottom physical and passed all tests with flying colours here at home, yet within a week, she had caught strep throat, rotavirus (which is spread by fecal route - so you are right about needing to wash hands after diaper changes), severe acidosis and severe dehydration while at WDW. The specialists from Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital were phenomenal and based on incubations and battery of tests run, along with consult with our doc, they are certain that she caught everything at WDW. By the way, March is peak season for strep throat in Orlando. Although WDW keeps them in business, they told us that it is a veritable playground of nasty germs and they are saddened to see so many ill children each day. We are beyond vigilant about healthy hygiene, by the way, but someone must have sneezed on her, or, we missed a wipe down of a handrail. The docs were most impressed at our personal hygiene habits because neither my hubby, nor I, caught any of it. Needless to say, we didn't take the first clinic doc's advice and go enjoy the parks - we stayed holed up in our room at Wilderness Lodge for days, not coming into contact with anyone else so as not to make anyone else sick. Good thing we did, as several days later, because he missed several illnesses, we were in emerg and hospitalized for 2 days. We drove, and will drive to WDW from now on (20+ hr drive), as we realized that we couldn't have gotten on a plane as our daughter was highly contagious (we were quarantined in Orlando). Our resort was floored when we called to report her contagious illness and ask for a room sanitize - they said they wish more guests would do so, but they don't.
Bottom line, we thought of everyone else as just as important as our child so that we wouldn't make anyone else sick - we wish the parents who let their sick children roam around WDW who made our baby sick, would have done the same, but as you mentioned, loss of money and vacation time seem to be more important than letting children get well. By the way, it cost us money too as we were days late in returning to work (banker & teacher), and had to keep our daughter home from school for a week afterwards. We also have proper medical &
travel insurance, and this helped as well. If you have those things (not sure if you do), then finding a doctor (by the way, they have airport docs/nurses) wouldn't have been a problem either.
People need to really start being more altruistic and stop using convenient ethics to justify their own unsafe or bad behaviours. I totally understand that you were caught off guard, as we were, but your ill child was just as harmful to others as the potential spread of germs from not washing hands after a diaper change.
Tiger
