Sick Day

When I was a kid my dad never let me stay at home unless there was something visibly wrong with me. Short of puking my brains out or loss of a limb I was climbing on the big yellow school bus every day. “Just try to make it through the day, see how it goes,” my dad would say as I left the house with walking pneumonia for kindergarten. My dad himself has, on many occasions, been told by his co-workers to leave work because he was too sick to work and had no business being there. The mentality of “come hell or high water a days work (or school work) must be done” has continued to stick with me even at my job now.

I had this weekend off and instead of enjoying the glorious weekend I was at home nursing an awful sinus infection. My nose constantly running, my head feeling like it was about to explode from pressure, not even Nyquil was helping me feel better. I was going to try to go to work today but after being told not to by both Steve and my mom I called in sick. “Uhhhh, ok, well, the calls just keep coming!” the charge nurse told me when I phoned in my absence. Apparently two other people had already called in sick for the day and now including me the total will be three leaving the unit very understaffed. I volunteered to try to come in at eleven and work an eight hour shift but the charge nurse sided with my mom and told me to stay at home and get well.

So here I am, drinking tea, sleeping, and feeling like I should be at work.