Moms Don't Get Sick Days

   When you have a job, and you get sick, the expected thing to do is to go to the doctor's, get medication, and if necessary, call in sick. No one wants those germs. But even if you can't call in sick, because you can't afford to and are out of sick time, or you have an important project deadline coming up, or for whatever reason, there is still the expectation that when you get home, you will be able to rest. Take some medicine, get in your jammies, put your feet up and rest.
   This is not the case with moms. Whether single or working, moms don't get to call out. No matter how sick we are, the kids need feeding, housework needs doing, and no one seems to believe that the world will continue to turn if you take a rest. This is true for all mothers; we have all been there.
   This is the truth that I face today. Of course, I have always known this, but I like to complain. And this week has not started off in the best manner. Saturday, I suddenly came down with the cold from Hell, and there was no warning. I was fine one hour, the next hour my nose was a leaky faucet. Are you kidding me??? How did this happen? Well, both my niece and my daughter were sick a few weeks ago, but then my sister caught the dreaded cold, so I made sure to stay away from that sick-o. She can keep her germs, and when she recovered from runny nose hell while I only experienced a sore throat, I thought I had managed to evade that little germ, everyone has been recovered for a while and I was still going strong.
    Nope. No such luck. Saturday, I went from being fine to being sicker than a dog, and so I decided that I needed to stay the night at my sister's apartment, so she could take care of me. (Considerate, right? I thought so, hehehehe <----evil laughter.) But that wasn't really helpful, because we stayed up most of the night watching horror movies, so I didn't get much rest. That Sunday at work, I was miserable. But when  I went home, what did I do? Well, I had to hold off on the Nyquil, because Monday was my daughter's field day. Since someone has been feeding that child Miracle Grow behind my back, she currently only possesses one pair of shorts that fit, which needed to be washed, but she had to have them for field day. So I had to do laundry. She also needed something to eat. Since I am not in the habit of serving up a nice, tasty dish of Miracle Grow, I had to fix her something to eat. Well, I eventually went to bed, and earlier than usual, but then I got woken up because the shower curtain had fallen down on my daughter while she was showering and getting ready for bed, so I got up and put the shower curtain back up. Then someone knocked at the door, so I stormed to the door and opened it only to immediately slam said door in some person's face. I don't know whose, because I didn't really look. In my defense, at this time I was under the influence of Nyquil, and I had only been asleep for less than two hours. I am really a bear when I wake up, so this unidentified person was lucky, in retrospect: I didn't eat him.
   Since I was up and in a pissy mood anyway, I put the dishes in the dishwasher, and then I went back to bed, only to have to get up at seven. I didn't have to be to work until eleven, but there is this little thing called getting my daughter to school that I have to do every weekday. I work shift work, so sometimes I go in at nine, sometimes I go in at noon, and sometimes I go in at four in the afternoon, and every other time between, but regardless of when  I have to go in, I have to get up at seven in the morning to get my daughter to school.
   These are things that all moms are familiar with. Even when sick, we still find ourselves taking care of the family, getting housework done, nursing other sick family members, and all the other little things that keep our homes running smoothly. We don't get to call in sick because apparently if we did, the world would stop in it's tracks. This is being mom; no sick days. Good thing we are a hardy breed, full of strength, the backbone of our species, and it's a really good thing that we love our most important work: our family.

Sick And Tired Of Being Sick And Tired

   There are just some things that should not be shared. I could be all crazy and start listing random things like herpes, dog breath, details about your crusty, calloused foot, but I won't, because today, I want to talk about the cold germ. Now, I understand that sometimes you just can't stay home. My work would have a shit fit if I called out every time I caught a cold. But there are times that you can keep from contaminating the innocent person next to you (or the one having to ring up your groceries and take your money *hint, hint*).
   See, I know that sometimes you just need to stock your fridge; you've been sick for a week and your kids are fixing to skin and eat the family pet if you don't get some food in the house. Been there, trust me. And I do go to work with a cold, because my mom never let me stay home from school when I only had a cough. Not calling out over minor illnesses is something that has been engraved into my behavior, but the thing here is that I do everything possible to prevent the passing of germs to my customers. I do the 'vampire cough', ya'know, the one where you cough into the crook of your elbow, instead of your hands, which touch everything; then I pour on the hand sanitizer and make sure I'm coated up to my elbows. Plus I always turn away from my customers so that I am not coughing over their food or in their faces. So I don't think that it's much to ask that the same courtesy is applied towards me.
   What does this mean? This means please don't lean over the counter and cough in my face, which one extremely ragged and dirty looking man once did to me. I don't know if this is related or not, but about a week or two later, I came down with a monster cold that lasted a whole 3 weeks. That's a mighty big coincidence. Also, this means not wiping your dripping nose with your bare hand and then grab your money and hand that contaminated cash to me with the same hand. That would be super nice. Another thing that you shouldn't do is crook your finger at me to come closer, so that I lean over the counter only to have you whisper to me that you have laryngitis, all the while bathing my face in your disease-ridden breath. And to top it off, be purchasing a paperback and some gossip magazines and no food or medicine in sight??? Not even necessities there, and BAM!!!!! I'm sick for a month.
   I'm not saying stay out of the store, as I said, I go to work when I'm sick. I have to pay rent and buy food and give my daughter money for those stupid fund raisers, so I know that cooping yourself up in the house for the duration of your illness is not feasible. I know that. But I never try to purposely make someone ill (okay, no one except my sister, because that shit is funny and it's payback for all the daycare germs she exposes me to.) And really, what else does all this behavior seem like? Seems like purposeful contamination to me.