The Right to be Sick

Star Q

i.  Pelancaran Bulan Kemerdekaan 2013

ii.  LAT for Language Learning

iii.  Nutella Brownies

Nobody in his right mind would want to fall sick for any reason, but when one does eventually fall ill, I think that person has the right to become sick and ultimately the right to go on medical leave.  After all it is not like you actually ask to become sick in order to get that medical leave and the doctor would not give you the medical leave if he feels that you are able to carry out your duties as an employee..  

I fell sick yesterday; a serious case of gout from my ankle to my toes which made it difficult for me walk about.  In fact, when I wanted to walk, I had to lean my weight against the wall for example, in order to get the weight off my left leg.  Anyone who had got similar gout condition would know how I felt yesterday; the pain was excruciating.  To top it all off, the injection the doctor gave me to alleviate my pain, caused an allergic reaction which caused my left eye to swell like a golf ball; so bad that it was practically shut.  As for my right eye, it was swollen too but slightly less, so I could still see through half an opened eye.

So it was with much pain to hear a colleague saying that she would still go to school even though she had not been well for two days, implying that even though she was sick she still came to school, unlike me.  Like I said earlier, if you are sick, just go to the doctor and if he feels that you need a medical leave, he will give you one.  If not he will just give you some medicines and ask you to take a rest.

Anyway, an employee is not indispensable to the extent that he needs to be present every working day whether he is healthy or feeling under the weather.  I guess feeling under the weather would still enable you to go to work because you can brush away the grey clouds.  But if you are practically immobile like me,  then no good is going to come out from forcing yourself to go to work.  The last thing I want from my colleagues is sympathy.

But in this case it is not sympathy that I am after.  In fact I am not after anything, not from a mere stranger at least.  This is a friend.  I would expect at least a little word of empathy from a friend.