I only work a few days each month in the office of a client. So, I don’t know the people there very well. My work requires solitude and that’s just fine with me.
But I have noticed that each month, without fail, there is one boy there who is always sick. By sick, I mean one foot in the hospital sick. His coughs and sneezes are so painful to hear that someday I’m sure body parts are going to come out his nose and throat.
Last week, he was sick, of course. Coughing constantly. A lady I’ve only seen once or twice, but who I think is the HR Manager, came over to ask him about his condition.
“Should you be here?”
“Yea, I should.”
“I can hear you from my office.” (Her office is on the opposite end of a fairly large building.)
“Really.”
“I think you need to go home.”
“Well, I think we should be given more sick days.”
“Why don’t you just go smoke another cigarette, then?”
Culprit identified. Dude’s a smoker. I used to be a smoker, so I understand that level of sickness. There’s no such thing as a little cold. Intensity and recovery time are ten-fold. But this ass thinks he needs more sick days to compensate for the consequences of his addiction.
“Good one.” (And then the boys around him join in to take up for him and his 30-day sick plan idea.)
“You have to manage your time. You guys are big boys over here. You need to make big boy decisions. You’re affecting everyone around you when you are in the office this sick.”
“Like I said before, we need more sick days.”
