#Sick days

[foldingfittedsheets]

It sounds funny but I’m actually a second generation sex shop employee. My mom worked in one for a while when I was little. It definitely set a very blasé tone around sex growing up which was great until it was mortifying because I was a teenager.

I don’t have many clear memories from when I was a kid but a few stand out. First is that when I was too sick to go to daycare I’d get to hang out in the back room of the shop my mom worked in. It was basically paradise.

Firstly, because my mom was in charge of inventory and there was always a kings ransom in boxes. So most of my sick days were spent in custom box fortresses filled with blankets and pillows. I got to watch the TV in the safety of my cardboard castle. My mom’s boss would also usually let me play with the stone otters she kept on her desk. I adored those otters and looked forward to sick days where I got to caress their carved stone features.

Second, mom’s work had the best candy. There was a novelty brand they carried that I still think about. Sure, the chocolates were shaped like boobs, but I did not care because they were the most delicious chocolates I’d ever had. I only got a candy if I were very good so I stayed on my best behavior most of the time.

I did get in trouble once for wandering into the back stock while looking for props to play with. I ended up finding a joke pack of condoms that were super tiny and using them as hats for my little toys. Thank goodness they were unlubricated. I was chided for this and the teeny condoms were carefully returned to their package.

But my absolute favorite was when I go to stay until closing. While mom was counting down the til I could wander the display shelves and touch all the sample dildos. I only had a vague sense that these represented anatomy- mostly I just cared about their relative texture merits. I poked and squeezed my way through the displays dongs, approving particularly squishy ones, disdaining the hard plastic offerings.

I rated them from worst to best until my mom secured her cash box and we went home, leaving behind a wonderland of yummy candy, stone otters, and cardboard kingdoms.

[dispatchesfromtheclasswar]

[shagirma]

《 Sick Days 》

And here we go, posting the first part of my sick days comic here on Tumblr! I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as my Twitter followers did <3

PART 1 / 16

NEXT PART

[aoi1dee]

OLNF Week Day 2: Sick Days

@olnfweek2024 a short fic is down below...

Alex should’ve known playing in the rain with Tamarack yesterday was a bad idea. They were originally supposed to be playing tag in her backyard or maybe picking up forest items to share with each other but when it suddenly started raining, Alex was already grabbing his stuff to go inside. Tamarack had insisted that they’d stay out in the rain just for a little bit. The first thing that came to mind was the movie scenes of couples dancing in the rain with each other. But the second thought that came was ‘What if Tamarack fell and hurt herself?? She wouldn’t have anyone there to help her!!’ so of course he had to stay to protect her (and also to dance with her) 

But he should’ve tried to convince her more to go inside because now here he is at 6 in the morning laying down in his bed with his Mama sitting on the edge with her hand over his forehead.

“Alexander… I told you this would happen.” She truly did. It was the first thing she said when he walked into the house dripping water all over the place, “I’ll call you off from school for today and I’m also going to call off of work.”

Alex grabs onto his Mama’s hand, “Mama, you don’t have to do that!” He didn’t want his Mama to miss a day of work because he had a simple cold; she had way more important things to do than to take care of him.

“I will do that; you are way more important to me than one shift.” She explains with a gentle smile, “Plus I’m sure my co-workers wouldn’t care if I missed one day. They will call me if they need anything.” Mama moves her hand to ruffle his fluffy brunette hair making it more messy than before. She gets up and looks down at him, “My phone is downstairs. I will come back with a wet towel and medicine after I am done, alright?”

“Okay… Thank you Mama...” He watches his Mama head out of his bedroom. When the door closes shut, the only thing he can hear is winds hitting the side of the house and the worry filled thoughts that started to fill his mind. 

Of course he had to get sick… what if Tamarack and Qiu wanted to walk to school with him? Oh and there could be a group project today too and they would want to partner up! Oh and what would he miss during class… What if it is extremely important or a pop quiz?? That would be the worst, having to show up to school tomorrow and taking a quiz while everyone else is caught up… He absolutely had to go to school! He didn’t want to miss anything!! His friends needed him there!!!

He dragged himself out of bed as quickly as he could. His whole body shivered when his bare feet touched the cold wooden tiles. He tip toes his way to the door then suddenly…

Ding Dong!

Without a second thought, Alex opens his door and makes his way downstairs. He stands still staring at the front door which is being held open by his Mama. He needs to know who is at the door.

A familiar voice comes from the door, “Is Alexander ready for school? I knocked earlier but nobody answered.” He knew it! Qiu was going to ask to walk to school with him today! That was him at the door! Alexander starts running towards the door which his Mama was blocking but he was suddenly falling towards the ground instead!! Alex must’ve slipped on his pajama pants… He felt arms wrapped around him catching him from smacking his face on the floor. His Mama had saved him! She pulls him up to stand straight again, “What are you doing down here? You should be resting.” 

“Wait resting???” He looks up at the door to find a new familiar voice. Tamarack stands there staring at Alex peeking out from behind Qiu. She is holding her big sleeves to her face with a worried expression. 

“Alexander won’t be coming to school today. He got sick from playing in the rain yesterday.” Mama explains with a gentle tone hoping to not freak her out but knowing Tamarack, she was going to freak out anyways.

“WHAT?” Tamarack screeched, “US PLAYING IN THE RAIN GOT HIM SICK??!!” Tamarack runs past Alex’s Mama and wraps her arms around him holding him tighter than ever before. Sure he absolutely loves her hugs, they’re the best thing in this silly world, but this one felt like Tamarack was not going to set him free anytime soon.

“I’m glad you care about his health Tamarack but you don’t want to get sick either.” Tam’s eyes were watery when she was being slowly pulled away from Alex by Qiu.

“Can we come back later?” Qiu asks letting go of Tamarack’s sweater.

“No, I'm sorry. Like I said I don’t want you two getting sick.” The door creaks as she slowly begins closing the door on them, “Have a good day you two. Alexander will be back on his feet tomorrow.” Qiu and Tamarack give the two Morellos the biggest disappointed frowns in the world as the door finally closes. Mama looks down at Alex letting go of the handle and locking the door, “Let's get you that stuff I promised you earlier.” She grabs onto Alex’s hand and leads him towards the kitchen.

Mama opens one of the cabinets nearest to the fridge they named ‘The Health Cabinet’ which is covered in Vitamins and prescription pills. The two of them don’t get sick very often so Mama has to pull out Children’s Tylenol from all the way in the back. They should be grateful they even have it. She opens the tiny box which holds the bottle filled with the medicine and a cup with measurements on top. Grabbing the cap and opening the sealed bottle, she pours the purple medicine into the measuring cup making sure it is the right measurement for a small 10 year old like Alex. 

She hands the small cup to Alex, “Here you go,” Alex looks down into the cup with the thick purple liquid, “Oh don’t make that face… it should taste like grapes.” She shows the box to Alex which says at the bottom right ‘Grape Flavored.’ Finally convinced, he quickly downs the medicine, “See it wasn’t so bad” She chuckles as she takes the cup from him and places it in the sink to be washed later, “Let’s get that towel so you can head back to bed.”

After grabbing the towel from the cupboard and wetting it with cold water from the sink, Mama leads Alex up the stairs back to his bedroom. With a shove from Mama, the bedroom door opens to the bedroom Alex so desperately wanted to leave around 10 minutes ago. He finds his way to his bed and lays down on top of it. Mama pulls the covers over him and places the cold wet towel on top of his forehead. He shivers as the sudden feeling but quickly gets used to it.

“This should help you cool down okay? It is what my Ma used to do when I was sick.” She smiles down at him, “Goodnight Alex; get some rest okay?” 

He nods his head smiling back at her, “Goodnight Mama”

Mama walks through the open door closing it behind her leaving Alex to the wind pushing against his old house and the branches outside of his window leaving shadows on the floor of his bedroom. The bed creaks as he slightly adjusts his position to get more comfortable in bed without the towel falling off of his forehead. No matter how much he adjusts and how much the bed creaks, he can’t seem to find a good spot to rest. Alex starts to squirm and kicks his sheets off of the bed onto the floor. At this point he doesn’t even care about all of his belongings falling onto the floor; he just wants to sleep. Finally, the spot he’s been desperately looking for was found. He feels his body sink into the mattress as dreams take over…

-----------------

Suddenly his door slams open and bangs against the wall. Alex’s eyes open wide coming back from dreamland and the first thing he sees is two forms running towards him with unimaginable speed. He does what any other 10 year old kid would do when he sees people running towards him…

He screams at the top of his lungs.

“Ah! Sorry Alexander! We didn’t mean to scare you!” The form suddenly becomes more recognizable now that it’s not running towards him.

“Qiu?” Alex’s eyes brighten towards his friend.

“HI ALEX!!! How are you doing? Are you feeling better? Did we wake you up? What were you dreaming about?” Oh and  there was Tamarack too!!

She hopped closer and closer to him with more and more questions until Qiu placed a hand on her shoulder, “We don’t want to overwhelm him.” She looks back at Qiu then back at Alex.

“I’m sorry Alex! We’ve just been thinking about you all day!!” She slaps both of her hands onto her face and they slowly slide down turning her cheeks pink, “We were just so worried about you that we ran home!” Alex’s heart dropped. They should’ve been more focused on school, not him with a silly fever…

“I’m sorry for worrying you guys…” He grips onto his- wait where were his sheets? He frantically looks back and forth. Qiu bent down and pulled the bed sheets from on the ground next to his bed and handed them back to Alex.

“Hey you don’t have to be sorry.” Qiu says reassuringly as Alex grabs the sheets from Qiu’s hands, “Blame the world for getting you sick! How dare they!!” He wags his fist towards the sky to show his true anger for what the world has done to poor little Alexander. 

Tamarack looks down towards the wood tiles, “I’m sorry Alex…” She sniffles, “If I didn’t make you play in the rain yesterday, you wouldn’t be sick…” Tamarack covers her face with her hands.

Alex moves closer towards the edge of the bed, “It's okay!” He holds onto her hands bringing them away from her face, “I had fun yesterday. I would get sick any day if it meant I could have that much fun with you again.” He smiles at her.

Tamarack looks Alex in the eyes, the tip of her nose and cheeks a little pinker than when she dragged her hands down her face, “Really..?” 

“Yeah” He squeezes her hands as he smiles more. 

“You couldn’t have known he would’ve gotten sick, don't push yourself too hard, Tamarack.” Qiu reassures her. 

She smiles at the both of them then suddenly, “Ah right!” She exclaims as she plops down next to Alex on his bed, “We need to share all the stuff that happened at school today!” 

“Oh yeah! How could we forget!!” He chuckles as he sits down on the other side of Alex.

Alex shuffles between them to get comfortable, “Um.. did something important happen? What did I miss?” He fiddles with the edge of his gray t-shirt the thoughts about a possible pop quiz coming up again. Tamarack scoots in as close as she can to Alex’s other side almost face to face with him. Apparently neither of them cared about getting sick.

Wait a minute… “How did you two get in?” He wonders as he looks back and forth at them frantically hoping and praying that they didn’t sneak in without Mama’s knowledge. He didn’t want them to be sick and in trouble.

“Oh!” Qiu smiles as he begins to explain, “We came back right after school to try and convince your Mama again to let us hang out with you in your room. Obviously she said no because you needed to get better but I came up with an idea…” That smile turns into a sly grin full of nothing but mischief, “We said that we were just going to give you your missing homework and tell you about what we learned today” 

“Oh… where is the homework?”

An awkward silence was shared between the three of them.

“WE FORGOT YOUR HOMEWORK AT SCHOOL!!!” They both shout as Alex quickly covers his ears.

“I’m so sorry Alex I guess we were just so distracted about seeing you again that we totally forgot to take your homework with us…” Qiu explains as they both look down full of pure shame. A sudden laughter took over. Alex holds his stomach unable to control his laughter. After a second, his two neighbors joined in on his laughter. Laughter filled the once empty room making it a sick day to remember for the rest of their lives.

[jenny-94]

wenn du als mädchen im rollstuhl deine tage hast 😭

when you have your period as a girl in a wheelchair😭

[bitchesgetriches]

Dear bitches, I have a question that may benefit the class: I'm lucky to have a job that has a very generous 15 day sick leave policy, and no health issues that would make me take it - except that I also have the copper IUD that gives me horrid cramps on day 1 of my period, for just about 24 hours exactly.

What is the business speak for 'I'm taking a sick day today because of my period'? What is the general business speak for 'I won't be here for a day for health reasons' that doesn't imply contagion or invite questions about how I'm feeling when I come back? Thank you and I hope you know JUST how appreciated you are (seriously, who else would I ask this to)

Sweetie pie... we LOVE that we're the ones you choose to ask this of. This is all we ever wanted--for strangers on the internet to talk to us about their periods!

(Sidenote: I, Piggy, also currently have an IUD, and it leads to practically ZERO symptoms of menstruation. I don't bleed, I don't get cramps, I don't experience mood swings. About once per year my face breaks out in zits and I bleed a small amount for a few hours. That's it. I fucking love it. So readers, just keep in mind that everyone's body is different and your symptoms may vary on any medication. I DIGRESS.)

The #1 thing to keep in mind is that your employer is not entitled to any confidential medical information. If you have cancer, they don't have a right to that information. If you've got a headache, they don't have a right to know. If you're considering a cosmetic surgery, a gender alignment surgery, or any other surgery... they don't need to know. So if you're menstruating and it hurts, they definitely don't get to know.

So my preference would be to go with the direct approach. If you're cramping and you want to take a sick day, just tell your employer "I'm taking a sick day." If they press for details, say "I'll see you tomorrow. :)" If they keep pressing, remind them that they are not legally entitled to your confidential medical information.

But if you'd rather not be direct (and who could blame you?) just tell them you "got food poisoning from the mussels at that place off of i70--you know the one? Yeah last time I'll make that mistake, even if I do have a Groupon. I didn't know puke could even BE that color!" Food poisoning is gross and temporary and tends to dissuade further questions.

Blood Money: Menstrual Products for Surviving Your Period While Poor 

Workplace Benefits and Other Cool Side Effects of Employment 

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[theunaestheticstudyblr]

How to make the most out of a sick day:

Listen to your body. Sleep. Drink plenty of water. Eat if you can. Maybe take a shower or bath. Rest. Your body is doing a lot right now and you need to be patient. Focus on you and your health. Don't work or exercise or study. You don't have the extra energy too. Please don't buy into productivity culture and think that every day of your life needs to be productive and something you can monetize. You're sick. Take care of you. Please.

[rainyfestivalsweets]

10/4/24

I am alive. But I have pneumonia.

I had a week of phonelessness.

What else?

Oh, I started Jiu Jitsu

[69constellationsinatrenchcoat]

"sick days taken have risen drastically in the last three years"

...okay... It's not like we had a global pandemic or anything where going out with even a sniffle is considered a crime

[flying-pierog-art]

Current mood

[doubletaileddoubletrouble]

I- I'm not feeling the best... I haven't been for a while... I'm going to try to get some rest or something. What do you normally do when you're sick? I'll figure it out... anyways just don't question if I like. Die or something. I dunno.

I know I haven't been the best of a person lately, but this is a little much...

[shagirma]

《Sick Days》

(Part 7/16)

First

Previous

Next (TBA)

[bitchesgetriches]

"I work for a company with an incredibly generous 15 day sick day policy" pisses me right off. Fuck you, America.

Signed, someone in a civilised country who gets six months.

Yeeeeeah. We're all pretty jealous and in awe of your civilized work benefits. Can we come live with you??? What's it like just never having to deal with burnout???? How does it feel to just, like, stay home and recover from an illness instead of trying to work through it?

I currently work for a company that has "unlimited paid time off," it's literally half the reason I accepted the job, and all of my friends are SHOCKED by how generous this policy is.

Workplace Benefits and Other Cool Side Effects of Employment 

Did we just help you out? Tip us!

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Ontario’s temporary sick day program is set to expire at the end of March and officials remain tight lipped over whether they will extend the program, saying instead the policy has “filled its purpose” and remains “status quo.” The province’s temporary sick day program, which gave employees three days off total to recover from COVID-19, was put in place in April 2021 in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19 in essential workplaces. The program also provided eligible workers up to $200 a day if they needed to get tested, vaccinated, self-isolate or care for a family member.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[number-onekidqueen]

𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 - 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚

Tedros x Agatha (SGE)

fluff

Warnings: mildly sick characters, banter.

"A-Agatha?" A wobbly voice called.

Agatha stirred from her sleep, confused. She glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing the time to be 6:30 AM.

Nobody woke up that early except-

"Tedros!" She groaned, scrambling out of her bed and sliding her slippers on in a hurry.

Soon enough, she found where he was.

He was slumped against the doorframe leading out of their chambers, sweat beading his pale forehead, clearly bath-bound, judging from the towel and razor in hand.

"Agatha, thank you, can you please-"

"I thought I told you," Agatha said menacingly, snatching up his towel and razor, "not to get out of bed. And yet you did. And now, you're like this."

Tedros scowled, glaring at her.

"I need to get ready for today," he continued, ignoring her comment, "there's this really important meeting I've got to attend."

"So important you have to sacrifice your health?" Agatha questioned.

"I-I'm not even that sick," Tedros protested, his legs wobbling as he stood shakily. "I just called you over to ask to fetch, some, ah, water, just in case I felt a bit nauseous."

"Tedros," she began sternly, "you're going to bed right now. You're going to stay there, and sleep, and I'm going to get the chef to cook you the sick special: pasta with so much cheese it ruins the dish."

"But-"

"No."

"I really need to-"

"No."

"Come on, please-"

"No."

"Agatha, seriously-"

"NO! Tedros, you are sick and it is my responsibility to take care of you!"

"Fine. But the next time you're sick, I have to take care of you." Tedros bargained.

There was a thoughtful pause.

"No promises." Agatha replied with a smirk.

As Tedros opened his mouth to protest, Agatha dragged him to their bed, pushing him onto it and lying beside him.

"Now we're going to sleep."

"This was more for you than for me, wasn't it?" Tedros snorted.

"Perhaps," Agatha said with a guilty smile.

"You are such a criminal little princess, with ulterior motives."

"I think you mean to say queen." Agatha corrected with a grin.

"Criminal little queen, then." Tedros said, grinning also.

"I suppose that's my true title. But don't complain too much, you're the one who chose me after all, Tedros."

"How could I forget?" Tedros asked, rolling his eyes.

But he kissed her anyway.

"Sweet, but germs!" Agatha whisper-screamed, pulling away.

They stayed like that for many hours more, until Tedros felt much better, and Agatha felt much worse.

And then they laughed hard until they both felt worse and Tedros spent another day caring for Agatha.

Now, many little girls and boys around the world want a star-studded love story, filled with princes who will kiss you and compliment you and princesses who will look well and will always be your loyal one true love.

And while some of those things are fine and dandy, they should take some meaning from this tale.

Find someone who will care for you when you are sick. Find someone who will argue with you about how sick you are, and force you to stay at home, even if it is against your will. Find someone who will spoonfeed you soup, and laugh when it splatters.

Find someone who loves you like Agatha and Tedros love each other.