Presenteeism

I'm home sick from work today. The thing is, I've gone to work on days when I felt much worse than today. I've been sick, off and on, for most of this month. First a cold/sore throat/plague thing that lingered forever, then a vicious stomach bug (or food poisoning?) last week, and this morning, the stomach bug, albeit a milder version, seems to have returned. From what I hear, it's circled around the office a few times as well. A few weeks ago, when I had the cold/sore throat/plague thing, everyone in the office was hacking and horking and looking like death warmed over. But our schedules were demanding, our calendars were full, our deadlines were looming, and we pressed on.

But I wonder -- when you just keep working when you're sick, what are you really accomplishing? Sure, you get things done and maybe avoid missing a deadline. But at best, you're not firing on all pistons. At worst, your brain is fuddled by medication or fevers or lack of sleep. And the germs you're sharing are just going to mean that your co-worker has the same thing going on a few days later. Also, I just have to think that actually staying out of work and resting (like the doctor suggested I do a few weeks ago -- fat chance, I worked a holiday instead) would go a long way towards getting well faster warding off the relapses. So a day spent at home might equal four productive workdays, whereas a day in which you drag your half-dead ass to work might drag out the illness and result in five days of mediocrity or mistakes.

Most of my co-workers and many of my friends have very busy, demanding jobs. I consider my job to be demanding, and most times it's quite busy. For the most part, if I get behind, there's no one who can cover for me. So we drag ourselves in. Secretly, I think, we all want the brownie points we get for going the extra mile. These days, no one can afford to be seen as the weakest link. So we're damn glad to have our jobs and we just don't think a fever or a night spent vomiting is an acceptable reason to stay home.

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