Illness is something we all come across in our lifetime. As a kid, I remember being sick wasn't always such a bad thing. I could stay home from school, take bubble gum flavored medicine twice a day, and my mom had an excuse to buy the good soup for dinner. If I was lucky, my dad would even bring me home some hot chocolate after work.
As we grow up, being sick starts to mean something entirely different.
Personally, I can't remember the first time I heard the words "sick day." I do, however, remember struggling to understand why my brother used to stress about getting sick and missing work. I didn't know why he had to count how many days he had already missed.
In high school, I began to understand why my brother had been so worried. Getting sick isn't something new to me. If it were a sport, I could be an Olympic gold medalist. So, I was no stranger to missing school and counting days. I was no stranger to the assignments piling up and teachers accusing me of taking advantage of doctor's notes.
This was something I would later fear as college grew closer, and it got me thinking. The very first day of classes, we are told to avoid missing class for any reason. This includes illness. However, when we fall sick, we are told to avoid contact with others.
Getting sick isn't something we can avoid entirely, or even blame someone for. We can take as many precautions as we'd like to avoid swapping germs with others, but the reality is they're all around us. Yet we still hold our students and employees responsible for their absence while ill.
What is it with the stigma behind sick days in the United States? What is it about being an adult that suddenly makes an illness somebody's fault? If we wouldn't blame a child for being ill, we shouldn't blame adults, either. With flu season upon us, the last thing any of us want to worry about are the consequences of taking another sick day.