Well not so much when it strikes at 2:30 am in the morning and makes me unable to do anything except run bwteen the bathroom and my bed, and when it bloody hurts.
But when it gets me out of a court appearence, where I was going to get a brand new one torn from the bench due to my clients blatant disregrad for court orders, (which I advised against). And when it gets me out of work on a Monday when in a week which will end on Thurday.
And gives me a chances to watch some really good movies on TCM and on MGM.
I once read a great piece on people who fib to get out of work, and it included quotes from people who insisted on describing their illness (including diarrhea) in graphic detail. I’ve always preferred ‘under the weather’ for menstrual problems and ‘upset stomach’ or ‘flu-ish symptoms’ for indigestion.
In my juridiction missing a court date is a no no, the only acceptable reason is if you have to appear in another court and that drags on longer. What I did was call up another tenant at chambers, instruct him and he came around and took the case files and appeared on my behalf. He also took my gown and bands, and has not returned them.
I once had it too (not naming it, although it’s obvious because it’s in the freakin’ thread title and all over this thread (ummm, maybe I should rephrase that?) it would seem to me like TMI if I actually said what I had once … ) - usually when something like that happens to me I take the day off work sick (which isn’t often, in my current job (this was a few jobs ago) of 9+ years of employment I’ve had less sick days than some of my cow-orkers have had in a month (I’m sure they’re just faking it to get out of work, as most of them occur on Monday or after a holiday) - heck I had 0 sick days in 2008!). This day, however, was the day of our annual Christmas party and I didn’t want to miss it as it seemed like a pretty good party (just started at that job, so only went by what I was told, but I was right). So, I got dressed (although had my PJs on under my clothes to make me feel better for some reason) and went to work, explaining to my supervisor that I may be in and out a lot (without going into specifics), even though I was at the kind of job where I had to be always at the phone (I think it was a telemarketing thing) it was allowed, was glad I did as I enjoyed the party (when I wasn’t in the bathroom) and more importantly, I was away from the hell that was telemarketing more than I would ahve been on a particular day.
The first time, the call went something like this:
Me: Remember when you had this procedure done and they said that the stuff you drink would likely give you constipation?
Boss: Yes.
Me: It didn’t. I’ll be in tomorrow.
Boss: Laughing hysterically.
The second time, I was working in a factory and unless half my machine was broken, it would be very difficult for me to leave my machine. My shift started at 11pm. If I had called out when my boss was there, I would have told him exactly what my problem was (probably in great detail). However, I called out at 3pm so I just said I was sick.