Here is my own Susie Sainte story for the day.
Susie had been at her new job for just over a year. Employees received 12 days of vacation the first year and 12 sick days. Guess what? Everyone was sick exactly 12 times each year.
As the end of her first year approached, Susie mentioned to her co-worker, Joe, that she had 12 days of sick leave and would start losing sick days if she did not use them by next year. Joe said,
"You must be stupid. Haven't you noticed that everyone takes one day of sick leave a month? Even the boss takes his 12 days a year!"
Talking to her cousin, Sam, she received the same advice,
"Why on earth wouldn't you take your sick days? Those are yours. You get those because you are a good employee and they want to keep you happy. It's not because they love you. Take next Monday off."
Susie decided that they were right. She had been working very hard lately and she was going to stay home from work next Monday. When she came in on Thursday to find that both Joe and her boss had called in sick, she was even more determined to 'quit being a sucker' as Joe called it. She even planned to get some shopping done.
Thursday night, her young son asked if he could stay home from school the next day to play with his new video game. Susie said,
"No. You're not sick. If I tell the teacher you're sick, that's lying. If you go back to school on Monday and say you were sick, that's lying. Lying is wrong."
Saturday morning, Susie was visiting with her dad and asked him what he thought about taking sick leave. He put his coffee down, leaned back and said,
"Well, when I retired, I had 39 days of sick leave left. They were good to me so why would I want to &*!@ them over? What difference does it make if everyone else in the place is taking sick leave when they're not sick? That's their choice. You need to make your own choice. I got paid enough to take care of you kids. I had my vacation time. If I got sick, I took my sick leave. Why would I lie and take advantage of a policy? My sick leave was there if I needed it but I was lucky enough to be healthy. Over the years, those other guys, they ended up getting two day suspensions here and there, getting written up, getting fired. Remember when your grandma was sick? I said I needed two weeks to go to take care of her and when she passed on I called and said I needed another week and my boss just said to come back when I was ready. If you do right, people do right by you. Even if they don't, it's all about what kind of person you want to be."
Monday, as Susie was leaving for lunch, she happened to look over at Joe's empty desk. He was out sick again. On the way out, she stuck her head in the boss's office,
"Would it be all right if I come back a little late from lunch? My son just got a perfect attendance award and I promised to run into town and buy him another one of those video games he's crazy about."
The boss waved,
"Don't worry about it. Things are slow here. Take the afternoon off.I can manage by myself."
Leaving the building, Susie was thinking her dad would be proud of her and patting herself on the back for being a good example to her son. And Joe? She wasn't thinking of him at all.
Susie had been at her new job for just over a year. Employees received 12 days of vacation the first year and 12 sick days. Guess what? Everyone was sick exactly 12 times each year.
As the end of her first year approached, Susie mentioned to her co-worker, Joe, that she had 12 days of sick leave and would start losing sick days if she did not use them by next year. Joe said,
"You must be stupid. Haven't you noticed that everyone takes one day of sick leave a month? Even the boss takes his 12 days a year!"
Talking to her cousin, Sam, she received the same advice,
"Why on earth wouldn't you take your sick days? Those are yours. You get those because you are a good employee and they want to keep you happy. It's not because they love you. Take next Monday off."
Susie decided that they were right. She had been working very hard lately and she was going to stay home from work next Monday. When she came in on Thursday to find that both Joe and her boss had called in sick, she was even more determined to 'quit being a sucker' as Joe called it. She even planned to get some shopping done.
Thursday night, her young son asked if he could stay home from school the next day to play with his new video game. Susie said,
"No. You're not sick. If I tell the teacher you're sick, that's lying. If you go back to school on Monday and say you were sick, that's lying. Lying is wrong."
Saturday morning, Susie was visiting with her dad and asked him what he thought about taking sick leave. He put his coffee down, leaned back and said,
"Well, when I retired, I had 39 days of sick leave left. They were good to me so why would I want to &*!@ them over? What difference does it make if everyone else in the place is taking sick leave when they're not sick? That's their choice. You need to make your own choice. I got paid enough to take care of you kids. I had my vacation time. If I got sick, I took my sick leave. Why would I lie and take advantage of a policy? My sick leave was there if I needed it but I was lucky enough to be healthy. Over the years, those other guys, they ended up getting two day suspensions here and there, getting written up, getting fired. Remember when your grandma was sick? I said I needed two weeks to go to take care of her and when she passed on I called and said I needed another week and my boss just said to come back when I was ready. If you do right, people do right by you. Even if they don't, it's all about what kind of person you want to be."
Monday, as Susie was leaving for lunch, she happened to look over at Joe's empty desk. He was out sick again. On the way out, she stuck her head in the boss's office,
"Would it be all right if I come back a little late from lunch? My son just got a perfect attendance award and I promised to run into town and buy him another one of those video games he's crazy about."
The boss waved,
"Don't worry about it. Things are slow here. Take the afternoon off.I can manage by myself."
Leaving the building, Susie was thinking her dad would be proud of her and patting herself on the back for being a good example to her son. And Joe? She wasn't thinking of him at all.
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