Sick Days aren't just for the Sick

Have you ever called work and said you were sick but the reality is you just can’t take the rat race on this particular day? Sure you have, and surveys shows you have plenty of company.

The local paper took a survey and 68% said they had called in sick and instead played hooky. That’s 7 out of 10 people and I know those other 3 people. They are the one’s monitoring what time you leave work on Friday afternoons when the boss is already gone.

I like to call it a “Mental Health Day”. You don’t have specific plans to justify using vacation time. You aren’t running a fever or coughing but you just can’t face the office place.

I like to take my Mental Health Day when it rains. Nothing heals better than saying I’m sick and staying home on a grey drizzily day, laying on the sofa napping and watching reruns of Family Matters and Home Improvement.

Still others can’t resist the perfect sunny day. Calling in and using the voice (come on, you know the one I’m referring to) to sucker your boss out of a mini vacation. I imagine them sunbathing the afternoon away.

Are we cheating our employers? I don’t think so if you aren’t doing it all the time. I limit myself to once per year and I think the benefits outweigh the cost of a day off.

After all, I was kind of sick... sick of working.