I've got a week off from the day job now, so naturally I've come down with something. I'm full of snot, coughing like an old fart and feeling a bit headachey and dizzy. What fun!
Still, I guess it is, in some ways, better to get ill when you're in a position to actually get some rest rather than when you're supposed to be going to work. My day job has an irritatingly "corporate" approach to illness absence, where you have to do pointless "Return to Work" interviews and sign forms every time you're off, regardless of the reason, and if you're ill more than x times in y indeterminate period (I say this because the definitions of y in particular don't appear to have any rhyme or reason whatsoever) then you have to have a soul-crushing meeting with HR.
Trouble is, this sort of practice appears to be common in most corporate places these days; companies are more concerned with "managing absence" than the actual welfare of their employees. It's frustrating, it's demoralising and leads to the phenomenon known as "presenteeism", where people show up to work when they really shouldn't, do a bad job and infect half the office with plague in the process.
I don't know how to avoid this though. I feel like looking for a new job won't solve the issue because, as I say, this sort of thing appears to be pretty common, unfortunately. As such, I could potentially find myself in a new job with the exact same situation.
The stupid thing is I'm not even taking the piss with being ill; I only call in when I'm genuinely not up to going in, and yet I still feel I'm being punished for it. It actually makes me feel worse, because it makes me anxious, and anxiety can exacerbate physical ailments too.
Oh well. Probably best not to think about this bullshit while I have a week off. Perhaps one day I'll make enough from my writing and/or videos to pack in the day job altogether — that'd be nice, wouldn't it? I think we're a long way off that yet. But it's nice to imagine, anyway.
Better get some sleep. Here's hoping I don't feel quite so wretched in the morning.
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