Thursday, 16 May 2019

In Sickness and in Health

My sister and I were always sent to school, sick or not, Mum would pack us off to school.  That was instilled at a very early stage.  She would sometimes get calls saying that one of us had thrown up or broken something (latter usually my sister) or that maybe we should go to a doctor.  In general however we would go to school and just get on with it.

This has come with the both us into adulthood.  Our poor kids are treated the same way - and little pity is given.  We have also taken the idea into our working lives.

I am one of those that likes to spread the love; I go into work with a cold, tonsillitis, sickness (maybe not diarrhoea)!  As I became a manager I realised that this wasn't the best thing as if a colleague came in to the office unwell they would, invariably, give it to everyone else.

Anyhow the point of this blog is to say that I am not a sick note; far from it.  However if someone from HR were to give you my sickness stats they would not be good.  I recently had four weeks off work.  I went to the doctor and she told me to have a week off then whilst I was off I sprained my back (in fact they thought I had ruptured a disc).  My employer were great and I attended intensive therapy.  Once I could sit for an hour without pain I went back to work.  Prior to that I had not been off in the 4.5 years that I was with the company.

So my point is thus: data, without an explanation, is just numbers; it isn't a statistic.

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