Do you feel guilty for taking a day off work?

[NikkiLinkle]

I need to take the day off tomorrow, so the cable guy can come over and pick up the box and remote. It took me 20 minutes to make An appointment for someone to pick it up and tomorrow is the soonest time they could give me. Otherwise they'll charge me $300!!! But I have a lot of work this week, so I feel bad, but I have to do it. I don't like to take days off, especially since it's Christmas time and losing a days pay sucks.

[Rowan]

I wasnt feeling the best yesterday so I took a sick day. Even though I have sick leave, I still feel bad about taking a day off work. Because unlike other jobs, people rely on me to get their work down. Naturally, when I returned to work this morning, I was bombarded by teachers telling me the net is down, programs are down, they cannot access the servers, they could not access email etc. All was solved within 20 minutes, now im back here waiting for new problems to arise.

[Unknown Entity]

I've not taken a day off work for any reason yet. I enjoy going to work. If I'm ill, I suck it up and get on with it, - unless I can't even get out of bed without vomiting or falling over myself.

I used to feel that way about college sometimes though. I used to help my friends and get help from them with our studies, and I felt like I was letting the team down if I didn't go in. But I was never guilty for long.

[Tallulah]

I had a bit of a mini meltdown around this time last year, and asked for a couple of days off because of that,went and spoke to the manager who was really sympathetic and set everything straight. They were expecting me to sort out dining area on my own during half term break when it was super-busy. I was covering for sick people, and one of the regular staff had just been fired, so there was no-one to cover me or help me out. I felt really bad because although they didn't come right out and say it, the managers really appreciated my effort. If they had said it, perhaps I wouldn't have thrown a sickie.

12 months down the line I am now putting in extra hours.

[Cereal~Killer]

Yeah, I feel guilty when I take a day off. Even when I'm really too sick to go in. I rarely call in, though. I was at my last job for over 2 years and I only called in maybe twice. My current job, I've been here for nearing 3 years now and I've called in three times: once for being so sick I could barely speak above a whisper, once for having to take off a day because my mom had a heart procedure done and the other time was when I accidentally cut my foot open and had to get stitches and stay out for a week. I was outside getting something, it was dark and I was barefoot. It had just rained earlier that day and I was stepping on objects to avoid mud. I stepped on what I thought was a plastic jar. It was glass. I found out the hard way.

[Maridia]

I don't do it often. But **** no I don't feel bad. My store likes to **** people around. So it's only fair they eat it every so often. About once maaaybe twice a year I do it.

Money is a big motivator, so never too often.

[motscroises]

Yeah, I always fuss over how people may have to work harder because I'm not around. It's happened before when I've been overworked and warned the managers that they needed to take it easy on me. They didn't listen. I don't work there any more. Even though I warned them that they were working me too much, I still felt really horribly guilty for putting in my two weeks.

[Rocky]

I feel guilty when I take a sick day, since parents are relying on me to watch their kids. It's twice as tough when the kids have special needs as well. I usually don't though, because ultimately the job is really easy and enjoyable for me. Hell I didnt even take my birthday off yesterday lol.

[OceanEyes28]

It's not so much I feel guilty as much as I can't. I'm the only person working the house during the day at the restaurant, so if I call in last minute (like if I wake up sick), it's hard to find someone to work for me. Today, I felt sick as shit and came in. Pretty sure I had a fever because it was hot as hell in that kitchen and I was shivering in my wool sweater until I finally broke a sweat (and probably the fever) in the afternoon. We tried to get one guy to come in at noon so I could leave early (he's always asking for more hours), but he never returned our calls. So I stayed til my shift was over. But the cook made meatloaf, mac and cheese, and cabbage for the special today and told me to help myself, so that made me feel better. He's the bomb dot com.

I really hope I didn't get some old person sick and inadvertently kill them.

[loaf]

I haven't had to take a day off in a year.

Back at Best Buy I would do no call no shows, never cared because everyone had their own things to do. Me not doing them was no big deal, it was all mainly side projects for the store.

[The Dark Crystal]

I've felt guilty a few times for missing more days then I should have, but all of it was time earned off. Being home sick, getting important tasks caught up, on a work day always makes me feel out of place though.

[Pete]

Why couldn't you just drop off the remote and cable box at whatever the local cable companies shop is? You wouldn't have to take the day, and all it would cost is a few mins of your time instead of the whole day.

As for myself, I do tend to feel guilty about taking days off. With the economy the way it is, I feel shitty for being able to take days off and get paid for them (comp time, baby!), while people are struggling to make ends meet.

At the same time, I do work pretty damn hard for a company that can really shaft you, such as my 13 hour day yesterday... in Staten Island of all places. That being said, I'm taking Monday off, since I'll be getting home late on Sunday.

[Michael Swayne]

I have only taken 2 days off from working at the newspaper. This was back when I was working in the office selling ads. It wasn't that I wanted to take the day off, it's more that I wasn't able to actually go to work.

I live out in the countryside, and in the middle of the 2007 blizzard here, our road was closed. On top of that, the highways were on Level 2 Snow Emergency. So, even if the road was closed, I would have received a ticket for being out on the roads anyway.

I felt bad not working those two days. Especially since I don't get paid if I don't work. The newspaper that week also felt it. The paper was only 12 pages. It most likely would've been more if I had worked.