Called out and feel guilty

[Becks]

I'm shocked at myself.

Why?

For the first time in the three years I've been working at the store, I actually called out sick.

I hadn't been feeling well on Saturday, but I stuck it out, only leaving half an hour early. Sunday, I was feeling worse, but since Sundays I get paid time and a half, I figured I'd go in and give it a shot, staying at least 4 hours. OK, somehow managed to stay for the four hours, then went home.

Monday morning, I was still feeling less than 23%, and I called out. :awed silence: At first I didn't want to, because I didn't want to inconvenience my manager, but then I realized just how bad I felt, and remembered that people were actually TELLING me how bad I looked on Sunday (aside from feeling feverish). My manager was understanding, and said he hopes I feel better.

I got a nice Monday off (doesn't happen too often), and I had yesterday and today scheduled off. A nice three days to try to get better...

The thing is, I felt so guilty for calling out!!!!!!!!!

[IT Grunt]

I wouldn't feel guilty one bit. Nothing is more important than your health. One thing to keep in mind (and I've done it myself) is that if you force yourself to go into work while you're sick, all you're doing is expending the energy you need to get better, and end up making yourself worse. IMHO, you're better off taking the time you need to rest and recuperate.

Hope ya feel better.

[Department stores *sigh*]

actually i know how you feel. i have only taken 3 days off in almost 3 years (not counting my wisdom teeth removal) and i called in yesterday. wasnt horribly sick i just needed a day off after working 5 days straight through thanksgiving weekend and working on my college essays. felt bad but hey....needed to be done

[ladodger34]

As long as you don't abuse the "system" so to say, no one should ever feel guilty about calling in sick. Heck, I made many a phone call in my previous job finding replacements. As a supervisor type, there was no way that I would feel okay about making someone work when they were sick. Besides, if they weren't sick and abused it, they would be gone shortly.

On a personal note, I missed 13 hours one year (about 2 days) due to sick time and still got knocked dow non a review because I was a few minutes late on a handful of occasions. I really stopped caring about "sticking it out" when I wasn't feeling well.

[PuckishOne]

I can also completely sympathize. We get 6 - count 'em, 6!! - whole sick days each year here at Evil Insurance Co., and the irony of this has not been lost on me. We promote "wellness" to our customers like you wouldn't believe, yet we come to work snarfling and coughing because we can't take a much-needed day to rest and stave off a bad cold, because we always have to think ahead to the possibility of something worse blindsiding us. In my case, it was a 4-day bout with Norovirus this past spring (luckily only 2 of those days were working days)!

[Rapscallion]

I had my first day off due to illness in fifteen years earlier this year. In my self-assessment at my review, I put this down as embarassing. (Granted, I was hurling at a furious rate of knots...)

I was told in no uncertain terms that I shouldn't consider illness an embarassment. Maybe I shouldn't, but I abhor the idea of leaving colleagues in the brown stuff.

Rapscallion

[CanadaGirl]

Just think about it this way... better to call out sick and stay home, than to become sicker at work and manage to vomit on someone!

[Becks]

We get 6 - count 'em, 6!! - whole sick days each year here at Evil Insurance Co.

If you're part time, and there for less than five years, like me, you get...3 sick days. Actually, it's a total of 12 hours, so basically 4 hours a day. :sigh:

I wouldn't feel guilty one bit. Nothing is more important than your health. One thing to keep in mind (and I've done it myself) is that if you force yourself to go into work while you're sick, all you're doing is expending the energy you need to get better, and end up making yourself worse. IMHO, you're better off taking the time you need to rest and recuperate.

Hope ya feel better.

That's a good point you've made, that that's EXACTLY what I've done. (I'm the dependable one at work, the one to call in if someone else calls out, etc.)

Btw, I'm slightly better. Sniffles and coughs, but I'll have access to cough and cold medicines. Woo hoo, using the fryer while slightly high. That sould be an experience.

Just think about it this way... better to call out sick and stay home, than to become sicker at work and manage to vomit on someone!

That's also a good point, but if I'd gone in on Monday, I would've seen my nemisis, and that's one person I wouldn't feel bad about pucking on.

[Spiffy McMoron]

I was told in no uncertain terms that I shouldn't consider illness an embarassment. Maybe I shouldn't, but I abhor the idea of leaving colleagues in the brown stuff.

Maybe we're thinking of a different type of brown stuff, but I think THAT would be more embarassing than calling in sick. Unless "brown stuff" is one of those British slang phrases that just seem to amuse me so very much...

I personally take quite a bit of pride in the fact that I have not called in sick to work since I worked at the warehouse, which would be...um...about four years ago. Go me and my kick-ass white blood cells!

[ladydouji]

I know what you mean, I pretty much took a week off last march because of a very nasty sore throat(viral infection) Gave me a wonderful cut glass in the throat feeling and I couldn't stand the idea of talking on the phone for 10 hours a day. I felt bad because I knew how busy we were, but I still just couldn't do it.

What was funny though, for about a week afterwards I felt fine and talking was painfree, however I sounded like a high pitched donald duck. So I would get customer who I knew were very mad and annoyed at all the sytem issues we were having, but they'ld hear me croak out my opening spiel and go "Oh you poor thing, you should be home sick" and spend the rest of the call being all nice and polite. It ROCKED!!

[Kelly Lynne]

One thing to keep in mind (and I've done it myself) is that if you force yourself to go into work while you're sick, all you're doing is expending the energy you need to get better, and end up making yourself worse.

Exactly. Not only that, but you're giving your coworkers the chance to experience whatever you've caught. Which I guess is okay if you really don't like your coworkers....

[Phone Jockey]

I've felt guilty about this before & there's nothing to feel bad about. You've had to pick up other ppl's slack...I'm sure of it. It's their turn. Just relax & enjoy your time off. You'll soon be back to the insanity that work seems to embrace. Enjoy yourself & leave the guilt to those who truly deserve it!