A coworker asked me if I had any eclipse glasses, and when I said I didn't, she replied "guess I'll have to drive home with my eyes closed". Another one told me she didn't want anything to do with the eclipse, and that she'd stay inside with the blinds closed.

Misunderstandings and misinformation are out of hand.

The eclipse is more dangerous actually... The visible light is reduced so your pupil expands. But a lot of UV light comes from the corona of the sun which isn't blocked during the eclipse. So your pupils are more open allowing in more of the harmful UV light. And to add to it, your eyes don't realize they are being harmed by UV light without the visible so you don't have that impulse to look away.

ANY TIME you stare at the sun

That's true, but you usually don't stare at the sun because there really isn't much to see. With an eclipse people will stare for several minutes or until their eyes boil.

Did you read the article?

When people look up at the sun normally, the intense brightness triggers pain that causes them to look away quickly before it can cause damage, said Dr. Philip Hooper, president of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society.

But as the moon starts to block the sun in the period leading up to the total eclipse “there is significant light energy that’s coming from the sun, but we don’t appreciate pain. And so you can look at it long enough to do damage to the eye,” said Hooper, who is also an associate professor of ophthalmology at Western University in London, Ont.

Like yes, staring at the sun any time is bad, I don't think anyone is disputing that, but there are factors as to why an eclipse makes it more likely for people to damage their eyes.