I've got a goddamn summer cold.

Sunday night around 10 p.m. I had a sneezing fit, and within an hour, a sore throat started coming on. By 3 a.m. my throat hurt so bad I had to get out of bed and gargle with aspirin just to get a little sleep.

Monday, the post-nasal drip started transforming into a pre-nasal one, and by Tuesday my nose was running like a leaky faucet. Drip. Drip. Drip. At times I had to stuff tissue up my nose like a sorta nasal tampon, just so I could have both hands free to type without trickling a steady stream of phlegm onto my keyboard. Today, it's more your run-of-the-mill full-on cold: sneezing, coughing, stuffy nose, itchy eyes and a touch of a headache.

Now... imagine I'm your waiter.

See, that's the whole point behind the controversial proposal that could make Seattle the fourth US city to mandate paid sick leave. I'm well enough to work. It's just a cold. But trust me, you don't want it. Which means you sure as hell don't want me coming anywhere near your food. But given the choice between losing a few days wages—or even a job—over a goddamn cold, or coming into work, powering through it, and passing this nasty virus on to unsuspecting customers, well, a lot of folks are gonna choose the latter.

Fortunately, my posts only make readers sick figuratively, so no harm, no foul. But for many service industry workers, paid sick leave isn't just humane, it's a public health measure.