I am sick this week. I feel so terrible that at this moment I'm considering texting my editor and asking for more time. I will persevere, however, because I have an article to write. Plus my topic this week gives me a reason to be dramatic and complain a lot. Which leads to my subject: 10 Things Sick College Kids Do.
1) Milk it.
That's what I've been doing since I woke up yesterday morning with a discomfort in my throat. I couldn't just leave it at an "Oh dear, I'm sick." No, no. I completely blew it out of proportion until this morning when I woke up actually genuinely sick.
2) Call mom.
Even if your mother is 200 miles away, nothing helps like calling your mom. She dotes on you because she loves you, and you eat it up. In the world of adults, it's nice to feel like a kid again; plus, she always believes it when you milk it.
3) Use it to get out of things.
You use it to get out of going to class and chapel. When our friends want to go to town and all you want to do is curl up in bed and watch some TV, guess what?
4) Complain...
And complain. And complain. And complain. And complain. And complain. And complain. You complain about your throat hurting and your stuffy nose and being cold.
5) Excuse yourself.
This sort of falls under the same category as using sickness to get out of things. But when you're sick, you don't want to do things like, I don't know, grab a shower before that 8 o'clock class. You have a break later in the day, and you just showered yesterday, right? And even if you're sick and you get up for a later, say 10 o'clock class, ladies especially, are you going to put forth the effort to look extra put together? Nah. I'm sick. Being well-dressed is for healthy people.
6) Half-pay attention in class.
You are not at your peak in attention. And okay, this isn't all your fault. Because you really are tired for no reason. Buuutttt... That might not be all of it. It feels nice sometimes to just have a reason to fall into an awake-but-sleeping daze in class; The rad kid you sit next to has your back. They take great notes. Well, good enough for you. And hey! At least you came today. It was up in the air if you were gonna show.
7) Excuse your grumpy attitude.
You're sick. You have made that very clear with the milking it and the complaining. You blame it on your friend that just so happened to be sick a week ago. You fuss at people about little things they do to you. And can they say anything? No. Because you're sick.
8) Somehow, you make people pity you.
How do you do it? And every time? You are feeling bad, but they've been you! They know that it isn't always completely as bad as you make it out to be, but people are just so nice, aren't they? They want to care about you. You should really return the favor when it's their turn.
9) Even though you keep slacking, you know you don't have time for this.
Just because you like to act like a kid, you are not one. You're an adult now with adult responsibilities. You have homework. You have class. You have work. There are so many things that you need to do. You also have at least some form of social life. You like to look nice. Sure, it's nice to have a break, but also, you do feel bad.
10) Sleep.
Sleep fights sickness, and you're exhausted all the time because your body is fighting off something. So you just sleep often.
Okay, but really this list is all in good fun. If you're sick, I do genuinely hope that you get feeling better. And really, don't worry about me. I'm just milking it once again, and sometimes it's good to get your feelings out there. Thank you so much for letting me talk about myself this much because really, I do all of these things. I'm doing them right now. Or planning on it. Like number 10. I love number 10.
