Going to work sick sucks

[Will-Mun]

I'm sick.... Not in a head cold, fever, or flu way, in the I'm running to the bathroom every 30 minutes to purge way... It happened, quite literally, just as I was falling asleep last night. I spent most of the night making hurried trips to the toilet, and pretty much at 5am decided I wasn't going to go to work today. So I finally do pass out, and then wake up a few hours before work, hey might as well do em a favor and call in early so they can find some coverage right?

I call in get the manager, explain I've had about three hours of sleep, and I'm making frequent trips to the bathroom, I apologize, of course, and tell him I can't make it. He tells me six people have called out, and he's really stressed for workers... Fuck.

He tells me to give it an hour, call back and see if I don't feel better. I pretty much know how this is going already. I get in the shower and do my morning things, and call him back... I tell him directly that I'm not feeling any better, but hey... I don't really have much of a choice at this point.

I tell him I understand that yeah, we're short on people, and it sucks... But I'll be there. He tells me if I'm not feeling well they'll send me home (it's a five hour shift, I can push though.)

I'm pretty sure he pulled the old Manager trick of guilting me into coming in... I find it hard to believe that six people have called out already... And if they did, it really doesn't matter... I'm in the electronics department, and usually only two people are there anyway...

So I'm going to work sick. At least this will give me some credibility right? I'm doing something for the company. I'm going into work... sick.

[bean]

If it makes you feel any better, I've had bronchitis for about 2 weeks now.

I missed about a half shift when it started, but technically I'm on new hire probation since I transferred departments just before Halloween. I was coughing so hard that I puked in the middle of an aisle... in front of a store manager. I would have missed work for it, except well, I wouldn't have been able to pay rent if I did. So I spend about 30-60 minutes per shift coughing my lungs out.

Good times, good times.

[powerboy]

At one of my old jobs, I got sick. When I called in, they told me I still had to come in. I was running to the bathroom 4 times in 1hr. I had to work the whole 8 hours.

[Bright_Star]

Look here...IF you're so sick that you're tossing your cookies or doing #3 every few minutes then by all means call off! & if they're short on help..well...then it sucks to be them.
By the way..#3 is what you call when you're "running". & I'm not talking about out in the park either...lol.

[Will-Mun]

It was #3 yeah... And it wasn't so much that as I had gotten very little sleep because of it and was feeling awful. I made it through the day without any need to run to the bathroom, luckily. It was a relatively easy day so it wasn't exactly bad, and it is good I went in, I do need the hours... I just really wasn't in the mood to deal with work today. But hey... I got through it right, and I AM feeling a bit better.

I'm just lucky I wasn't working with her. I would have HAD to go home early because I can barely stand her normally, but while sick and frustrated? Not happening...

Don't know who 'her' is? Well thats cause I haven't told you yet. See, I'm holding off unloading on her in Cursing out Coworkers. Why? I really don't know... maybe I'm subconsciously tallying a list of infuriating things she does...

[chops]

Funny, I always thought #3 was tossing your cookies, instead of #2 in fast forward.

[Pezzle]

As far as being sick...

I had so much anxiety over black friday that I slept about a total of 3 hours over 4 days. So the day of Black Friday (aka a 16 hour shift, 22 hours in building) I finally got sick around 5 o clock. I started coughing terribly hard, was shaking, and I was practically sleepwalking. I ended up having to yack about an average of 5 times an hour, which was usually brought on by coughing (What is ita bout being tired and having an insane gag reflex?).

During the sixth time though, there was blood coming out everywhere. I hacked and coughed and all the sudden there was acid and red splatters all over the toilet. Did I get to go home? No, it's Black Friday, as long as I'm not twitching on the floor they don't care. Turns out I just yelled my throat raw and coughing irritated the throat so much it was bleeding! No blood from the stomach, thank god.



Gross alert..

When I looked into the bowl btw I had completely undigested asparagus and turkey. As in it looked like it had not ever been swallowed. Is it possible to be so desperate for sleep that your body slightly shuts down other functions (ie digestive system) ?

[GingerBiscuit]

Yes. If you are severly sleep deprived your body will shut down a lot of things- mostly non-essential functions- to conserve energy. I've never been so severly sleep deprived my digestion was effected, but have been so severly sleep deprived all my motor functions and language centres were off line. I went to sleep when my body started shutting down my hearing and vision.

[NateTheChops]

I sympathize. One morning I had this frog holding my throat hostage. So literally it was like each sentance was a workout.

Most of the customers were sympathetic. I even had one offer me a lozenge, which I virtuously turned down as it would have been my luck to have the manager grill me about accepting things from customers.

But of course, the nice ones were in the minority, and I wound up having to repeat myself to every hearing impaired prick that came to my register.

I even had one customer bring me a set of keys that someone had lost. I said thank you and I was just about to bring them to the office, where we keep lost items but she said, "No! You have to leave it on the front of the register so they see it when they come in."

"Ma'am," I say, voice raspy and straining to utter each syllable. "If they can describe the keys they'll get them. Otherwise anyone could walk in and take them."

"For the love of God just don't argue with me today!" I wanted to yell. Called in sick the next day. I can afford to miss at least one every so often.

[matty]

I just try to follow a "If you're sick, then you're sick!" philosophy.

Last winter, I had bronchitis. I pushed through and went to work in the morning, but about half-way through my shift, I felt myself just about collapsing onto the floor. I had to go home. So, I said that I needed to go and I left. Truly, even when I tried to take the escalator down to the platform at the train station, I looked at it and it appeared to be going 100 miles an hour. I had to take the lift instead.

But I always made sure that I got a medical certificate from my doctor, despite the fact that it wasn't really necessary since I was a casual anyway (i.e. did not get paid for sick days).

Thankfully, I really don't get sick too often at all, not even a cold.

[BiscuitMunroe]

Yuck,
I've been out sick the last two days with the worlds worst head cold. I'm just finally feeling better tonight. But of course, I can't sleep becuase I"ve slept like 30 of the last 48 hours.