I did a bad thing....

[Catwoman2965]

I was scheduled to work today, but....I just didn't feel like going in, so...am very tired, have a lot going on, and a lot to get done, so i called in sick. But...in the 2.5 years I've worked there, I have NEVER done that, and I work whenever they ask me to, holidays, weekends etc. I just need a day off...and there are more than enough people scheduled to handle things (I checked) - so, while I feel SLIGHTLY guilty, my mental health is more important at this point.

Unfortunately there isn't voicemail, so i had to actaully speak to the manager...she seemed ok with it, but you never know. I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

[lordlundar]

If it was for your sanity, then you really did phone in sick.

[crazylegs]

2.5 years with one days sick, thats pretty good going, no need to beat yourself up about that methinks.

[Becks]

I was scheduled to work today, but....I just didn't feel like going in, so...am very tired, have a lot going on, and a lot to get done, so i called in sick. But...in the 2.5 years I've worked there, I have NEVER done that, and I work whenever they ask me to, holidays, weekends etc. I just need a day off...and there are more than enough people scheduled to handle things (I checked) - so, while I feel SLIGHTLY guilty, my mental health is more important at this point.

That sounds almost exactly like a post I made last year when I called out for the first time from my current job (after 3 years). I felt so guilty...until I went back to bed and got some sleep.

[Catwoman2965]

I don't feel too guilty; as I'm one of the ones who can always be depended on, whether it be to come in earlier because someone ELSE couldn't make it in, or stay later, or work when no one else wants to.

So far, I'm enjoying my day; have gotten a lot accomplished, and just have a few more things to do, then I can settle in and watch the Giants/Cowboys game!

[BookstoreEscapee]

I say, don't feel guilty at all. Sometimes you need a mental health day. Sick days aren't just for the sniffles.

This from the girl who almost never calls in sick. When I do use sick time, it's usually half days at a time because I try to make it through the day and end up going home early. And that's rare. Usually if I do actually call out sick it involves a doctor visit (like the time I had tonsillitis so bad I thought if I let it go any longer I wouldn't be able to breathe and even ice cream made me want to cry).

Though I have been known to take a mental health day once or twice.

[Bright_Star]

Sometimes you have to call off even IF you're not actually sick. You know-for some "ME Time".

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

You generally find--unless there's someone crazy there--that no one gives a flip the next day when you come back. Every day at my store there's a list of call-ins on the LOD's sheet, and you just end up one of those people. Then you move on.I try to keep this in mind--people care about themselves, not other people, as a rule.

I know coworkers who call in once every week or so, and they're still working.

[Kuterthnur]

With your track record you could have made anything up and it should be believed!

[blas]

Don't feel bad about it at all. We've all done that before.

I have opted more often to use up vacation time than to call in, but even if I should be saving vacation time for an upcoming holiday or something, if I've been stressed out enough lately, I WILL take a Thursday night off to have a 3 day weekend. Sometimes I just can't function with my shedule the way it is.

[Fawn]

Mental Health is a legitimate reason to take a day off of work. Sometimes a day or two can make your mind feel SO much better!

[Jester]

I finally got to the point where I'd request certain days off and just tell my boss that I had a specialists appointment, even though my appointment was actually with my bed...lol!

That would be your nocturnal relaxation specialist!


As for feeling guilty for calling in sick when you aren't....don't. If your track record is that spot on, you deserve to take a personal day here and there. Since I virtually never call off sick, when I do, my jobs believe me....even though more often than not I am not sick at all. To this day I don't feel a bit guilty for calling off at the brewpub to go party with my buddy Bird the day before the Super Bowl (it was in Phoenix that year, so there was much partying to do!).

The only one I have ever felt guilty about was when I called off from my call center job because I was, um, "horizontally occupied" with a member of the fairer gender. It turned out that I had just finished the probationary period, so that was actually a PAID sick day. Yep, in a weird way, I actually got paid to !!! So later I had trouble later on that day arguing with my friend when he called me a whore!

[Lady Heather]

I had taken mental health days at my old job once a month, but I have only called in twice to my current job this year (both when I was actually sick). It's harder to call in when you know someone will have to work open-close to cover you. If that person also has a child that needs to be tucked into bed.....I can't do it. Not unless I'm really sick. Guilt is a horrible thing.

[Banrion]

I have the same guilt complex. A few weeks ago, I woke up and couldn't swallow, I go look at my throat in the mirror, and I had white spots on the back of my throat. Lovely, I had strep throat, I didn't feel terrible, just a wicked sore throat, otherwise I was fine. I had to call out because I am fully aware of the major contagiousness of strep and the fact that my boss's husband is immunosuppressed, but I felt like a major slacker calling out for just a sore throat that cepacol was able to numb. What made things worse is that it was the day before I had 2 scheduled days off.

[Coconut]

Oh, I can TOTALLY relate to the "mental health" thing. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

I did it once. My nerves were shot to hell. I had been working 17 hour days... I was frustrated with a co-worker and there was just no way I could take it. I think if I had went in I would have had a breakdown.