Schmoe gets it - sort of

This post will be short. I am using my blackberry to post this from an urgent care waiting room. A rather nasty upper respiratory infection forced me to call in sick for two shifts. I wasn't deathly ill by any means, but I was coughing uncontrollably and felt awful. I am pretty sure it was not the flu, as the onset of symptoms was slow and started with a sore throat, went to my head and ended up in my chest. I feel a lot better today and will likely go back to work tomorrow. So if I am feeling better, what am I doing standing in a room full of people who sound like I did a few days ago?

My agency has a policy that states an employee who takes more than a shift and a half off in a cycle must get a release from a doctor before returning to work.

I get it. I do. This policy was designed to discourage people from taking vacations using sick time. It likely is needed, as in every organization, we have people who will always work the system to their benefit.

But as I look at this room full of sick people, most of whom are grumpy and contagious, I think it is a total waste of the clinic's time, my health and my twenty bucks. I probably should have gone to work and infected everybody else.

I am going to post this and, to keep my pilot and fire service readers happy, I will add an interesting pic I shot a few weeks ago when I was down visiting my folks.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe