Self Defense

I'm the type of person who'd always tell colleagues who seem to have dragged themselves to the office or joined an online meeting visibly/audibly sick to get back to bed asap and take sick leave. Well...in my almost 7 years at the Firm I have never taken a day of sick leave myself, which is not to say that I have never been sick for all this time. In fact, I have had the common cold several times, plus got infected with Covid three times and always worked (from home), so, yep, not the best role model. My mum always scolds me for not taking time off work, but I definitely got this attitude from her, she also refuses to acknowledge that she is sick.

Last weekend, Highflyer had a sore throat and a really hoarse voice and I was determined not to catch whatever it was (not Covid, in any case, he took several tests) off him, "doping" myself with effervescent vitamin concoctions. If I got sick timing would have been less than ideal (then again, when is it ever?!) as I had to defend my thesis in Linz on Tuesday and to facilitate a workshop that had already been postponed (not because of me) in the office on Thursday. Sure enough I woke up with a killer sore throat on Tuesday morning and feared for the worst when I took the train. Thanks to either the adrenaline rush of the exam and/or the lozenges I took I almost felt back to normal when I got back to Vienna that same night. I still decided not to go to the office on Wednesday, doing all my tried and tested home remedy routines: inhaling salt water, drinking hot lemonade with ginger and honey, taking a hot bath, etc. I slept badly that night and woke up on Thursday morning with a runny nose and an ear-ache, which I hardly ever get. I still powered through the workshop and again didn't feel that bad actually when I left for home. By Friday night I was sneezing and coughing, so, yep, flat batteries and a full-blown cold right in time for the weekend. Highflyer who went to the doctor last Monday and got antibiotics for his throat infection also had the worst of his symptoms on his days off, but did have to take two days of sick leave as home office is not really an option when you need to fly passengers from A to B.

I really was reminded of my "roadshow" days at the Firm, when I would give full-day trainings in the Balkans and Baltics, travelling on my own without a backup. During those intense 4 or so years I really perfected my "first aid kit" and tried to avoid hotel rooms without bath tubs and kettles. There were many occasions when a soak in a hot tub and a sachet of LemSip or Neocitran helped to ward off the worst. One time, I felt positively feverish (also quite rare for me) in Sofia, the day before I had to give a training and 3 days before my birthday party back home. I took a bath, had a LemSip and wrapped up with a cardigan on top of my PJs, plus scarf and woollen hat before I got into bed. When I woke up the next morning I still felt pretty zombified, to be honest, but managed to pull off the training and fly back later in the evening. What can I say, my little "episode" felt like a distant memory when I celebrated my birthday in Vienna two days later as if nothing had happened.

I know myself that it's probably neither smart, nor sustainable to fight off and try deny your cold symptoms, regardless of how important your job is (in my case: NOT at all), but somehow I can't help it.