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Why Can't I Call In Sick?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Pete Incaviglia, Apr 7, 2009.

  1. I've been checking this thread out here and there and both love and hate the fact a simple thing such as calling in sick when you can barely move is worthy of discussion or debate. It speaks to the rare breed that can be produced by this business which is hacking up its own lungs lately.

    Here's one for you that touches a bit on both sides:

    It was a beautiful, sunny day and I savored the sun hitting my face at an outdoor event with some good friends. I wasn't due to work that day, but heard a development that could eventually lead to some major news.
    I was torn.
    I desperately wanted to just enjoy the damn day with my friends for a change and not throw my personal life into chaos for the possibility of a story. I knew unless the major news broke that day (which was unlikely) we would have it covered.
    I also knew the financial situation at my place meant I could eventually lose my job. But my loyalty to jump on a potential story and bury my personal life never was as much about my place as it was about readers and that drive which many people on this thread obviously understand.
    So I called my editor. Because, well, it just felt like I had to do that.
    He told me he had someone out there already just in case, but thanked me for calling.
    Two days later, he called again to tell me not to go to work. For good, this time.
    I will say this: I enjoyed the heck out of that day with my friends.
    Give your readers and your co-workers everything you've got, folks. But don't give them more than you give yourself.
     
  2. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Great post. I will say this. Never once if I was hacking up a storm in the office did a superior ever say, 'You ought to go home, you sound sick.' Even after incredible coughing sprees and having to get up and go suck on a cough drop to settle down. This is a business that convinces people to do whatever it takes to get a story or put out the paper, oh sorry, the Web edition.
     
  3. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    good god, man, i just figured it out. you're a professional victim, aren't you?
     
  4. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Why should they? That's YOUR responsibility. We're not in fucking elementary school here. If you're sick, take care of yourself. Why are you waiting for someone to send you home like a school nurse?

    Can't blame that on a superior, man. That's on you.
     
  5. jps

    jps Active Member

    good God you whine a lot. I might ask you to go home now and then just to get some quiet around the office.
     
  6. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    That's pretty sad. I've been very lucky in that I've had supervisors practically boot me out if I'm feeling lousy.
     
  7. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Same here.
     
  8. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    I was once so sick, I vomited in the men's room at work. Came out and told my SE. His reponse, "That sucks. I wish I could send you home."
     
  9. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    So let's say I'm on the road, in say, Cleveland. My paper has sent me there to cover a game, at great expense. I can just call in and say, "You know, I'm under the weather tonight. Think I'm just gonna kick it in this hotel room you paid for and not cover the game?" Good luck pulling that off.

    So, I guess my point is, there ARE instances when it isn't so cut and dried. Sometimes, like the players we cover, you do have to gut shit up.

    And sometimes, you don't. And sometimes, you can't.

    It all depends on the circumstances.

    But I've covered numerous games next to a box of Kleenex and a bag of throat drops, because who the hell else is going to do it?
     
  10. Yes, that's a good point. Road trips are kind of a different animal and I think most understand you'd have to suck things up a little more in that situation.

    You know what I love about that, though?

    What I learned over my career is that we respect the company's money a whole lot more than the people paid to do just that. I can't tell you how many times I bent over backwards to save my company money on a travel deal. Or how many times they completely WASTED oodles of money by just dragging their asses when it came time to make a decision on a trip. So instead of getting the cheaper deal they would be socked with HUNDREDS extra.

    I'm sure any traveling writer has similar stories they can share.

    Seriously, the more I think about it the more I get aggravated. This nickel and dime crap cutting corners at every turn and damaging the lives of good people ... and the same companies doing that garbage don't even blink when it comes time to just throw away excess money on a trip because of a lack of planning.

    Absolutely ridiculous.
     
  11. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    And I've called in sick when I was supposed to cover a game, and no one else did it.

    And you know what? We got a few graphs in and the world moved on.
     
  12. pallister

    pallister Guest

    I've sent people home when they were sick. If I know someone's coming in when they're sick because they don't want their co-workers to have to do extra work, I have no problem picking up the slack for that person.
     
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