For the past couple of days, I’ve been battling flu like symptoms. I won’t call it the flu, because I never saw a doctor. It started Saturday morning with a scratchy throat and continued to Tuesday, for which I popped as many Airbornes as possible. Come Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning I was burning up. So much that I turned on the air conditioner to try and cool myself off. As the day progressed, I became very sluggish, was coughing up mucus, and had a tension headache that refused to subside. It felt like my brain was melting, which always leads me to remember the book Hot Zone. [For those who haven’t read it, it’s a pretty graphic encounter of the Ebola virus.]
By 1:00PM, while I was waiting to see my orthodontist, I was convinced I had brain fever and was dying. [I know, I should have canceled my appointment, but he didn’t have any openings until weeks later and I was on my last tray for that series. I did tell him that I was sick and if he didn’t want to touch my mouth, I would understand.] WebMD and Google added to my paranoia by verifying all the symptoms I had, but I couldn’t let death’s bed keep me from going to work.
So, once the appointment finished, I started on my way to “the office”. The closer I got, the hotter and weaker I became, so decided to text my lady boss to see if I could leave after Lady Em’s appointment. To be honest, I was a little scared she would say no. Not that she is some ruthless dictator, but because I know the importance of my role, and I know of the horror stories I, and many of my other peers, have endured at the hands of a boss. [Once I caught something from this troll of a child I was babysitting and the mother fired me because I couldn’t come in that day. She said, “Tillie, this is such an inconvenience to me. Now I have to stay home and care for him.” Ummmm, but I got sick from your child!!] But she didn’t. She told me not to come in and to take are of myself.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, that’s not special Tillie.” But you’re wrong. Everyday we take so many things for granted because we don’t realize how good we’ve got it. This is not to say we don’t have a right to whimper at times, but we don’t have a right to constantly complain that we deserve x,y, and z at the expense of another just because. Do you know what I mean? Like, if you make a million dollars a year and say, “Jimmy Joe makes $10,000 a year working as a janitor but he only pays 5% in taxes. I mean he’s just a janitor! As VP of Douchebag Industries, I make $1,000,000 and have to pay 20% in taxes. My title is higher, so I do more, and should have to pay less or the same amount.”
No, VP of Douchebag Industries, you shouldn’t and your reasoning is flawed. This man is blessed in so many ways that one can’t count, but still thinks he deserves more.
I am blessed to have a two jobs that I love, surrounded by people who love me, and allow me the freedom to care for myself when necessary. Which seems so little, but think of the Jimmy Joe’s of the world who dare not take a sick day in fear of what could happen to their livelihood.
So can you count your blessings today? I can.
Until the next a-ha moment of serenity kicks in, probably tonight after another dose of NYQuil…
Hoping this homemade Tom Yum soup treats my self-diagnosed brain fever,
xTillie
P.S. Has liquid medication always been this disgusting? I used to love taking it as a child, but taking it as an adult makes me question the ability of my taste buds. Except milk of magnesia… that will always be disgusting. ::shudders::