Sick and Tired of Being Sick and TiredbadgersandjamMarch 21 2008, 18:07:33 UTC
Speaking as someone with, essentially, chronic arthritis (and chronic asthma, for that. And chronic stomach disorders, and...you get the picture) I will attempt tp pull myself in most days, on the knowledge that it simply won't get better. I have, in the past, had to call in with "excuses" such as "horrible histemic reactions--can't wear clothes" and whiplash injuries/nausea where I got halfway to work and then had to abort the drive, calling in from wherevcer I happened to be. I was excoriated for things like this. But when I struggled in, vomiting or whatever, I was sent home, then excoriated. And when I did work, I wa so exhausted that I'd go to bed at 5 or 6 PM. This is probably a contributing factor to my marriage failing. Chronically fit people (like my husband) simply cannot conceive of what it's like to be chronically ill. No matter how often I refer them to www.butyoudontlooksick.com (read Spoon theory, if you haven't).
Only being able to be awake for 20 minutes outside of work is not living. It's not even a way of life. It is, in fact, appalling. This also applies to my cousin who works 70-hour weeks. WTF is that all in aid of? There is no point in sacrificing your life to something that doesn't really matter in the long run. If that means you take a sick day now and then, then FFS take it.
My old job in the States had "administrative leave" days. 3 per year. For when you woke up and just said "f#ck it, I'm not going in." I took one when it was about 110 degrees Fahrenheit and I just stayed home and cranked up the AC till it was the temperature of a cave inside my flat. THAT is humane.
Frankly, if you don't give me sick days, you're going to wind up with me written off for months.
I'm probably wibbling coz I'm still tired from travel. My final suggestion is to take a crowbar to the knees of the writer and put him in a chair for a while; make him negotiate the Underground whilst in a chair; and see how he does.
Only being able to be awake for 20 minutes outside of work is not living. It's not even a way of life. It is, in fact, appalling. This also applies to my cousin who works 70-hour weeks. WTF is that all in aid of? There is no point in sacrificing your life to something that doesn't really matter in the long run. If that means you take a sick day now and then, then FFS take it.
My old job in the States had "administrative leave" days. 3 per year. For when you woke up and just said "f#ck it, I'm not going in." I took one when it was about 110 degrees Fahrenheit and I just stayed home and cranked up the AC till it was the temperature of a cave inside my flat. THAT is humane.
Frankly, if you don't give me sick days, you're going to wind up with me written off for months.
I'm probably wibbling coz I'm still tired from travel. My final suggestion is to take a crowbar to the knees of the writer and put him in a chair for a while; make him negotiate the Underground whilst in a chair; and see how he does.
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