Calling Out Sick

I’m not very good at being sick. I’m worse at calling out sick from work. Over the years I’ve mostly used my sick days for appointments or when my own child was home sick from school. When I was teaching it was more of a nuisance to prepare a lesson plan for a sub. Easier to just work through the coughs and sneezes.

I don’t believe that having cancer is a license to call out sick. My friend Cathy keeps yelling at me and says to stop being a martyr. Over the past few months I HAVE called out sick a few times and I know there will be several more times before this is over. The chemo side effects were/are so uncomfortable that I can’t be at 100%. Working in retail requires me to be at the top of my game all the time. Customers don’t care if your jade plant wilted, if you have a toothache or if you’re going through a life change. And guess what? They’re right. The customer has the right to my 100% attention focused on them. I treat my customers the way I myself like to be treated when doing a little retail therapy.

And so, unless I can’t stand up to do my job or at least perch in a visible place, I will continue to work. I may not have a license to call out sick, but once in a while I’ll pull a temporary permit.

Have a good week, all!