National 'sickie' day

Do you remember back when...ya know, during grade school days...when you'd get sick? You never felt too bad and perhaps you were lying a bit about how you felt so that you didn't have to turn in your math homework...but because you were a good kid overall, your parents didn't mind as much having you stay at home. I had a mom who could take time off from her part-time job in the Church or library and so I'd have her all to myself. It was great! My little clingy brother would be sent off to nursery school and mom and I would just hang out, watch Sesame Street and if I felt up to it, eat chicken noodle soup from a can. Those were happy moments. I was a kid who loved to read, and so my mom would pick out a few books and I'd spend the afternoon totally enmeshed in the story. My mom would yell up to me and I wouldn’t respond because I was in the world of flying dragons or girl detectives. No story was boring because it wasn’t my life (which of course was boring).

Now being sick is not so much fun. Especially when you feel guilt for missing any work. I can’t lie to my boss and say that I’m not feeling well when I’m perfectly fine or even miss work if I just feel a bit ‘off’. Now I have to come in even if all I’d like to do is settle down in my comforter and sleep. Man, work guilt is a powerful tool. Most of us have it too. There are people here who look grey but they’re still here. I’m not sure how healthy this is and we’re probably spreading it to many others, but we still soldier on. I felt quite icky yesterday and still feel that way today – but I never left early yesterday and I’m at work today. Isn’t that sad. But I suppose I’d rather wait for the day when I feel like utter death before I try to take a ‘sickie’.

What I find humorous...it was National ‘Sickie’ Day in the UK yesterday. Due to the typical weather, the grossness of how most of us feel, yesterday was the day that more people call in sick than any other. Perhaps my work should sponsor a day like this...but it’s unlikely.