'What are you doing here?" was my first words to my helper, Thobile when I got up this morning.
"I work here," she said, as if she was talking to a not-very-bright child..
"Not today you don't. Go away! Go home!"
Ok, I admit it: I was feeling seriously lousy. I had a lot of work on my plate and was feeling a bit stressed. But she looked flushed (like she had a fever) and was coughing hard enough for bits of her lungs to fly out through her mouth.
"It seems we were right yesterday and you do have a cold. So why are you here? Why aren't you home nursing that thing? I love you, but not enough to want to share whatever germs you've got!"
Apparently she came because there were things she thought couldn't wait. I argued that the house was tidy, I had clean clothes and she could take the laptop home to do some transcription work at home in bed if she absolutely had to do something. But that would not be done at my house.
I have another friend from out of town visiting, so when she heard our "discussion," she offered to take Thobile home.
"And drink some ginger tea, Ms Grumpy! I'm sure that will make you feel better," Thobile said when she left.
Honestly though, I don't know what I would do without Thobile. She runs my life and makes sure that all I have to do is focus on my work and family and friends and the house is always tidy, laundry is done and somehow, she discoevered where socks go to hide from their partners, so I always have socks that match when I need them in winter.
The tea did soothe me a little, but my friend came back home via the local bakery, with some very sweet, delicious cupcakes. Not very healthy, but I needed the sugar rush.
So I'm going to spend the day shut in my office finalising some production schedules and book plans and doing some research.
So, how's your day going? And what's your take on the issue of going to work even when you're sick, especially when what you have is contagious? Is it better to go to work because work waits for no man and a cold doesn't kill anyone, or should the patient stay at home to avoid infecting colleagues and friends and maybe even affecting the productivity of the rest of the staff?
4 comments:
Tough one!
If you are contagious then I believe you stay at home.
But if you have the snuffles then I dont see why you cant come to work.
I'm all in favour of rest and recovery in my mind, but when it comes to it I always feel so guilty for staying home unless it is really bad and end up at work suffering, which is pointless, really.
Such a tough call. Worked in places where they prefer you not to come. But on the flip side, then they are suspicious that perhaps you lied and really it was a hangover or - goodness knows.
And then there are the times where the the position demands the person there unless they really are on death's door. Even when Husband has taken time off due to being too sick to drive to work, his cell still goes off with people asking a zillion questions. Needless to say - he has to be really, really, really ill before he takes a day off. Although to be fair, he does try to hide in his office as much as possible in order not to spread it around.
Best to you!!!
I agree with Tiah - a tough call. I used to tough it out no matter how lousy I felt, until my sniffles turned to sinus infection which turned to bronchitis which became pneumonia, right before I had to move house. Consideration of your own health and everyone else's is the key. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth is not the attitude when the gift is a virus or bacteria!
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