Member-only story
COVID has made me unreliable
And I’m OK with that
Since COVID became a thing, I’ve become much more unreliable. And that’s a good thing.
When I was fresh out of college, I was a bit of a workaholic. Part of it — I loved my job. Unlike many engineering companies, the one I chose was understaffed. That meant I got to do real design work fresh out of school. That was fun. Plus I always wanted to meet my deadlines. Since our management often set unrealistic goals, this meant I’d have to make-up for their bad planning by putting in more time.
One bad result from this — I’d go in to work even when I was horribly sick.
Until one day a European co-worker told me he never did that. “In Europe when we are sick, we stay home and rest. Why would I spread my germs to everyone else. Is it fair to others to have me come in? And what’s worse for the company — for one person to call in sick for a few days, or for that person to get several people sick so they all become less productive?”
It made sense.
So after that, I would stay home and rest when I got really sick. But it was a matter of degree — if it was just a cold, and I had an important meeting, I might not stay home, but just keep some distance and avoid physical contact. Plus, since I have allergies, if I suspected that’s what it was, I…
