Sizzle Says

Last night The Fella and I were talking about “mental health days” being taken as sick days. His take is that people abuse the mental health day as an excuse to then go skiing or to the beach, totally goofing off when they don’t have anything really mentally or physically wrong with them (that should interfere with them doing their work, heh). The Fella has a very strong work ethic (can’t you tell?) and does not support mental health days. (Correct me if I am wrong, sugar.) He doesn’t even take sick days (but currently he doesn’t have that option unless he doesn’t want to get paid since he is on a contract dealio).

Me? I take sick days when I feel sick or to ward off an on-coming sickness or if I have horrific PMS (dude, it happens, ok!). I have also taken mental health days. I go mental sometimes. I’ve had days where I was so distraught with emotional overload bullshit that I couldn’t have focused on work if I tried. And I wouldn’t have tried that hard because when I am emotional that takes up all my head and heart space. I’ve had days where I would rather stay home and relax- probably because I have been working hard and need a time out from the daily grind. Because I need to regroup and recharge. Sue calls these “jammie days” and I like how she thinks. An old boss of mine referred to them as “vision days” – she just couldn’t “see” coming into work that day. (She was a complete nutjob but I digress.)

Now don’t go thinking I am supporting people taking mental health days and sick days willy nilly just so they don’t have to work or to avoid a job they don’t like. If you don’t like your job you should probably find a different one. We do spend the majority of our week there so we should at least not mind going there, right? I do, however, support people prioritizing their own health over the daily grind. I support people choosing to stay home if they are mentally unable to focus on the job. I support taking vacations and using vacation days for the purpose they were intended. I fully support calling in sick if you feel sick. No one else is going to take care of us for us. We have to do it.

So tell me, what is your opinion on this whole mental health/sick day debate?

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Phantasmagoria: 1. a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined, 2. a bizarre or fantastic combination.

If you are suffering from phantasmagorias brought on by a high fever you should most definitely call in sick to work.