Well, it seems we may have brought "con crud" home with us from the Fall Show. My husband woke up with a slightly sore throat yesterday, which progressed into some congestion throughout the day. He took medicine before bed, and today I can hear him coughing and fighting congestion while he works.
As for me, I was hoping I would avoid it, but I woke up with the faintest of sore throats this morning. Any other time I would have assumed it was allergies, but with Zac sick I am playing it safe. I skipped my ride with my leaser today as I didn't want to expose her to it, and I'm contemplating skipping my dad's appointment tomorrow at the cancer center. If I am potentially carrying something, the last thing I want to do is to take it to a bunch of chemo patients.
Listening to my husband hack and cough while he works made me think of how sick days have changed. It used to be that people were expected to largely work through being sick, so hacking and coughing at one's desk wasn't really that surprising a thing. Then covid put the fear of illness into everyone, and people were expected to stay at home. But at the same time, the world was shifting to a more virtual workplace in response to covid concerns, so it became a matter of "Don't be selfish and expose other people, but also make sure you do this work as we still need it done."
In a lot of ways, I think this has eroded people's sick days. While now it's more expected to stay home if you're ill, it's like the corporate world thinks you can still rest while working from home. So even though your body needs real rest to get better, you're expected to spend your rest time working from home.
Of course, my husband is in a similar boat as I am. He's a contract-to-hire employee, so until they hire him on as a full time employee with benefits, he has no sick days. If he has to take a day off, he loses the income for that day, which motivates him to work through the illness.
The same goes for me when I'm sick, although as a freelancer and a self-employed person, I get paid a little differently (by what I accomplish, rather than hourly). And honestly, that difference often means that I'm not motivated to work, unless I have a pressing deadline that can't be postponed, because I tend not to be very focused when I'm sick.
Speaking of my focus, that has been suffering today too, I'm afraid. I was hoping to be productive while "stuck" at home from my canceled ride, but instead I haven't accomplished much that I had intended to do. I don't know if it's because I'm getting sick, but I haven't had any energy or motivation today. Sometimes I feel fine, and other times I think that maybe I'm feeling a little bit off. I guess only time will tell.
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