UNITED STATES—Being ill or sick as most of us like to call it is no fun feeling. For many Americans, when we get sick it usually lasts for a day or so, however, I think any cold, sore throat, stomach ache or just overall feeling of dread takes more than a day to recover from.

I bring this situation to the forefront because this weekend I got ill, seriously ill, so much to the point that I just had to call-in sick at work. Rarely, do I miss work, but I’m a believer that when you’re so ill that you don’t or can’t get out of bed, your body has an overall sense of dread and you just feel groggy it’s a sign. Sometimes many Americans force themselves to go to work because; let’s face it they are not able to take time off from work because of the necessity to need money to care for overall expenses for home life.

Saturday I started to feel a bit uneasy, I attributed that to perhaps being a bit stuffed from dinner. I tossed and turned all night with the thought that I was going to vomit. I wake up Sunday morning just feeling dreadful. I mean my stomach was doing turns that left me uncomfortable and wishing for a reprieve. I took a bit of medicine, but it didn’t seem to be much help. If anything it just made me sleepy. However, after another dosage of medicine I found myself vomiting. And it was simply unbearable. I have the slightest idea, but whenever I vomit it hurts like hell. However, I’m sure that applies to all Americans.

However, the fact that I vomited was an epic help. I was able to remove whatever toxin or toxins my body rejected. The only issue was the fact that I could not ignore that I had no appetite for perhaps the first 10 hours of the day. When I’m sick, the only thing that comforts me is relaxation. Sometimes the body will shut down if you’re not willing to allow it to shut down.

This is an important fact when it comes to going to work when one is sick. If you’re sick, and we all know any illness can be contagious, do one’s best not to expose others to that sickness. Not only are you miserable if you show up to work and you’re not capable of working it hurts the company more than one expects. You place your co-workers at risk, your boss, potential customers in the establishment and you can make the situation worse for your body if you overexert yourself when your body is fighting against your efforts.

I think some companies underestimate the importance of sick days. Everyone gets sick, even the boss or CEO of a company. That same sentiment should be echoed to workers. Now I’m not saying someone should be allowed to have a sick day a week or sick days whenever they choose, but if someone rarely calls into work and finds themselves sick, it should not be the end of the world.

No one likes to be sick, so with that statement, I think people should have a bit more understanding for those who get sick when it rarely happens. No company is going to go out of business if 1 person calls in sick. If that is the case, the company should always have a back-up plan and additional employees to take a shift if someone does get sick.