Illness and The Benefits of Unemployment
by Skald

Today I woke with a painful sore throat. I'm having great trouble swallowing.... much less eating. I feel tired and worn out. As I lay in my bed today, bemoaning my ill fortune... it struck me how truly fortunate I really am. Past bouts of illness have indeed been miserable experiences. And why? Because usually I was working.... it was the accursed job which made being sick such an incredibly draining experience. Why? Because I always tried to drag my ass into work anyway.... and then spent many miserable hours trying to survive the day. I'd repeat that sorry routine for a week or more.... until I'd taken enough drugs to beat back whatever was ailing me.

Or, I'd call in and use one of those precious "sick days".... always getting that icy reply from the fucking boss.... always the pressure to "hurry back" to work. Or... I'd have a job that had no "sick days" at all... and so there was the pressure of losing precious wages as a result of the illness.

What I rarely, if ever, did was relax, rest, and just take my time getting better--- something that I can now do. So today, blissfully unemployed, I was able to sleep in as late as I liked. I then spent the day lounging around lazily.... sipping orange juice... and generally taking my time. I feel no pressure to hurry up and get well and thus can let this thing run its natural course- instead of doping up on a handful of drugs in order to work, work, work.

This little illness is showing me just how unnatural working is-- how it takes over the natural rhythms of life and makes us slaves to the clock. What do sick animals do? They lay around until they get well. That's it, pretty much. What a luxury it is... in this age of clocks & capitalism... to do the same. Just rest until I feel better.

Let's call this reason #745 for why I loathe jobs!