Tuesday, February 15, 2011

(Stubborn) Sick Day

Yesterday I did something I very rarely do (and hadn't done in more than a year). I went home sick. Thankfully I haven't been hit by any nasty viruses or infections in a while (knock on wood), but the truth of it is that I have a very hard time taking time off for being sick. Part of it is that, even after almost four years of being gainfully employed with built-in sick days, I still have the mindset that being sick = losing money. Another part of it is guilt. Which is ridiculous, I know, but it's there. I am not naive or narcissistic enough to think that if I'm not there things will fall apart, as evidenced by the fact that I have very little problem taking vacation days. But, I still don't take sick days often, and only as a last resort. Yesterday, I woke up with a headache, worse than the usual run-of-the-mill headache, but not a migraine. I debated not even getting out of bed. I showered and dressed and then debated going back to bed. I got on the shuttle and got to work. Still had a headache, which was growing worse, and some general ickiness. But it took me more than two hours of sitting at my desk to convince myself to just go home. And I went home and slept for seven straight hours and still had a bit of a headache when I woke up. So it was a justified sick half-day. But I still felt a bit guilty. (And, of course, nothing earth-shattering happened in my absence.)

Tomorrow night I'm leaving for Sri Lanka. Three and a half glorious days on vacation. Pictures and stories when I return!

2 comments:

Sara said...

Definitely a well deserved half sick day. Thank you for your sweet comments on my blog, I really appreciate them.

Connie said...

Don't feel guilty :) How productive would you have been anyway? And what if you were contagious? Then others would have had unproductive days too. Good you took off and got the rest you needed! :) Hope you feel better, and have a great trip!!