What I hate about being poorly

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I am ill. It's nothing serious; just a virus that has wiped me out for the last couple of days.

But what I hate the most about it is not that my nose is constantly running, the sneezing, the body aches and the fact my temperature has ratcheted up a few notches. Nope.

Nor is it having to keep on top of being "the mum" and managing the house even though my head is full of fog and my body doesn't feel like my own. Nope not that either.

What I hate the most is having to tell my manager that I'm ill and I need to leave work. It honestly feels like facing the inquisition and only if you can prove that you're genuinely ill and not just making it up because you can't be bothered to do your job, can you go home.

I'm already aware that I'm not as valued as full-time employees and while I'm sure there are some people out there that do abuse their employer's sickness policy, I'm not one of them so the very rare times when I do feel I need to go home to focus on getting better, and my reasons are immediately treated with suspicion, it makes me feel really resentful. It just doesn't make for a good working relationship.

I've spent the last 14 years working for the same Company - it was my first "proper" job - but I can't help but feel that this chapter of my working life needs to come to an end, that it's time to move on. That's a scary thought and I'm not sure I'm ready to face it yet.