At least he asked beforehand, instead of bringing it up when you're trapped in the car with him. Points for honesty and courtesy.

So, lets put this into some perspective, here:

Oh my god, I know. I moved to Aus last year from the US and holy shit, I can't even believe how much better the standard of living is. Looking back at the US now makes me feel so, so angry for the poor workers there

I was one about 10 minutes late for work. I had never been that late before, I'd worked there for almost two years, and I called ahead to let them know what was happening (a tree was completely blocking a major road, so I had to turn around and go back before going a different way). When I got there, my bosses (a…

The restaurant I waitress at is owned by a Sicilian family. They're hard-asses for sure, but damn if they don't let me take a sick day off when I need one (which, thankfully, isn't often). God bless the Italians, man.

This is why this is one of my favorite series on the internet. I am so thankful that I don't work in one of these environments.

That sounds awesome but I also fear the giant spiders. And snakes.

Right. You all need to move to Australia NOW. You will not lose your job for calling in sick, you don't need to go the ER to get a doctor's note (in fact I think they'd tell you to bugger off and see your GP), and you'll be able to see a GP for FREE (not all GPs are free but all are subsidised and some don't charge…

That's a shame. :(

Not nearly as fabulous as the Old Man and Strega Nona, but my last serving/bartending gig was at a family-owned Italian seafood joint on the coast. I had been conditioned in my prior restaurants to never call out sick unless you could get someone to cover your shift or get fired. First time I came down sick at Family…

As a doctor, you should be aware that there are doctors who will not write "sick notes". For example, the student health center at the R1 university where I'm a graduate student will not write sick notes at all. Not for employers, not for professors. The doctor I went to before I came here charged an extra fee on top…

These are the kind of managers that people will work their ass off for because they treat you right.

Good lord, this reminds me of the time I called in sick at my first restaurant job. I was 21, had been working there since I was 18. I was the "golden girl" - Always showed up early, customers loved me, I was willing to do any extra (reasonable) work the managers asked me, my coworkers liked me, even my own managers…

Not any more. The Old Man passed away about twenty years ago. Strega Nona went the next year. The daughters sold the joint, they always said that they could not work there without their parents being around

My husband is a manager at McDonald's and has been for almost 20 years. He has been routinely encouraged by a past GM to interrogate anyone who calls in to work, which he refuses to do. He himself has gone in to work so many times while he is sick when I have begged him not to go. Want to know why? Because even after…

I am a terrible person.

I have another bartending happy ending

Once I was called into a manager's office to "discuss" why I had called in sick more times than the industry standard in a year (I had called in something like 7 times, 5 is industry standard) because they were cracking down on people gaming the system (wut?). Apparently despite having a ruptured ovarian cyst and…

My favorite people are the customers who can see that you are sick, and give you shade for working and possibly getting them sick.