The Ways We're Sick

Just give me what works!

Everyone handles being sick in a different way.

Some people like to wallow in it, sharing their misery with everyone around. They sniffle and sneeze and cough loudly and often. They provide plenty of evidence that they’re sick, and make sure they have an audience. These are the people who come to work sick, or drag themselves to social events with tissue in hand, and tell everyone who will listen just how sick and miserable they are. 

Why don’t they stay home?  Very good question. These people can't stand losing social interaction just because they're sick. Besides, being sick is a way to get attention. They don’t want to stay home alone in bed and recoup all alone. They want sympathy.

Then there are the stoics. The people who drag themselves into work and pretend that their illness isn’t that bad; that they can still function. These people have an inflated sense of their self-worth, in my opinion. They think the world can’t go on without them, so they down as much medicine as they can and get to work. Who cares if they’re spreading germs!

Unlike those who can’t afford to be sick. Those who take as much medicine as they need to get through the day because they don’t have the luxury of staying home and being sick. These are the working mothers, laborers, and people without medical care. They suffer quietly. They know they should stay home, but they can’t.

And then there are those who just want to be alone when they’re sick. They don’t feel social. They don’t like imposing themselves on other people. They just want to retreat like a wounded animal,  sleep, and get the sickness over with. For these people, sickness is a disruption and is treated as such. This person won’t try to resume normal activities until he/she feels better.

Last, but not least, we can't forget the hypochondriacs. They won't let us.