Calling-in-Sick?

[Farcaster]

As I find myself calling in sick today to work, I am reminded of an article that I read a couple weeks ago. The article sited a pretty staggering percentage of us who call in sick when we're actually not. So, it got me curious, how many of us have ever called-in-sick, when the real reason we are calling-in is to roleplay or perhaps because we stayed up WAY too late roleplaying?

[Drohem]

When I was a lot younger I was guilty of this due to late nights; not necessarily a session in of its self.

[rabkala]

I've called in 15 times in 2007. 5 times because of my kids, once because I was sick, Twice due to parties, the rest were greatly influenced by staying up too late gaming.

[PhishStyx]

I don't recall ever calling in sick due to a game, but I did have one job where I got fed up with how a couple people got to do pretty much what they wanted but I was expected to follow a stricter standard.

For example, I was told that we were only allowed 1 Saturday off per month, but apparently that just applied to me because the girl who worked beside me rarely if ever showed up on Saturdays and had no repercussions from it. So just once (in 3 1/2 years of working there), I called in sick because my girlfriend (now wife) wanted me to spend Saturday with her and our friends after she drove 3 hours to see us.

[Digital Arcanist]

I've called in sick a couple times over the years because I stayed up till around 4 AM playing D&D and had to be out the door for work at 5 AM.

[Moritz]

Not because of RP'ing. Perhaps to hang out with a girl. But hang out with a bunch of smelly guys. Nah.

[Snuffy]

I've found myself contemplating to call-in a couple times before games I was gm'ing. I just wanted to prepare more stuff.

Never called in though. I've called in to go riding (dirt bikes) when the weather is perfect.

[kavvov]

When I was in college we had a gaming group that met in the quad and if the session was going particularly well there would be several of us who would develop illnesses or just not go to class. I just followed a strict just let them assume I was sick policy. I never lied about it I just never corrected them. I also never missed rehearsal (music major) since my not showin up actually affected others.
Since I have entered the workplace I have never called in sick for a game (or any other non-sick releated reason) but I have traded days rearranged things, etc on many occasions.

[rabkala]

It seems like a real waste of a day to stay home sick. I would rather go in sick and save the personal and sick days for fun. Then, there are weeks of vacation time that I can use at the drop of a hat. My employer would much rather have me take a day off here and there, than actually schedule numerous days/weeks together. The longest I took off at once was a two week period of time. They missed numerous deadlines and many things basically stood still until I returned to do them. Now I am one of those people that Phish complains about, cause the rules for everyone else don't apply to me. :)

[grimwell]

I've done it for job interviews, and once because I was hung over (coworkers got me drunk so it was work related). Beyond that it's been for my kids when they are sick.

The company I'm at now is very cool. I don't have sick days. I have days off. I can schedule them in advance if I'm planning, or just take them if I need them (sick, surprise shift in plans, sleepy, etc.).

They don't put them in separate banks. I'd just get shot if I took a day off during crunch, beyond that they are amazingly flexible.

[Farcaster]

Where I work is about the same, Grim. We get one bucket of PTO (Paid Time Off) that is used for sick time, vacation, personal days, whatever. I like it, especially since I don't usually use that much sick time. And since it is all lumped together, I end up accruing a full day off every two weeks.

[highinquisitorlord]

I have never "called" in sick for RPGs, however I have messaged the schedule to have a day off now and then for my regular D&D game. So I suppose that counts in my mind as calling in sick.

HIL

[spotlight]

When I was younger, an all weekend game did not stop me from going to work. Being young, it was easier to get a caffein spike and tough it out. How ever now that I have a few years under my belt... Well, I just don't try pulling 'forty-eighters' any more. And I have called in sick for many strange reasons, but never for a game. Yet!

[underdarkshark]

Oh i have, Ashrons Call, and World of Warcraft, were two reasons..but never to play a paper and dice game. With online games i would find myself in an "instance" at 3am even after i "promised myself" i would be off line by 11pm. Next thing i know its dawn, ive drank 5 mtn dew's in the last 3 hours and everywhere i look i see colorful "spots" yes i admit i have called in in those instances..

[Mulsiphix]

I've enjoyed both calling in sick from work and ditching school to play BattleTech. I actually lost a job and was put in in school suspension for my excessive tardiness. I'm not really in a place that I could do that now but I cherish the memories of when such things were viable :rolleyes:

[MortonStromgal]

No, I have called in drunk though... ahhh to work for a small company again. :rolleyes:

[tesral]

As I find myself calling in sick today to work, I am reminded of an article that I read a couple weeks ago. The article sited a pretty staggering percentage of us who call in sick when we're actually not. So, it got me curious, how many of us have ever called-in-sick, when the real reason we are calling-in is to roleplay or perhaps because we stayed up WAY too late roleplaying?

To role-play, never. Becasue of role-play and being seriously over froliced, yea, a time or two.

I have also gotten home from a session, grabbed some breakfast and headed out to work a nine hour day. Trust me, call in. That was was Hell ride of a day that lasted a day for every fifteen minutes.

Me not stupid, me learn and never do that again.

[Mulsiphix]

tesral you speak in riddles. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to Dr. Phil. A whole bunch of tesral-isms that only you can understand. I love it :D

[tesral]

tesral you speak in riddles. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to Dr. Phil. A whole bunch of tesral-isms that only you can understand. I love it :D

What incomprehedablity am I hucking your way?

[Mulsiphix]

I prefer not to list some of the more confusing phrases you've uttered. One of your most attractive traits, to me of course, is the mystery of what your really saying. Where would the fun be if you sat down and explained some of these things to me. I'd rather keep on guessing ;)

[tesral]

I prefer not to list some of the more confusing phrases you've uttered. One of your most attractive traits, to me of course, is the mystery of what your really saying. Where would the fun be if you sat down and explained some of these things to me. I'd rather keep on guessing ;)

I have to confuse the spys.

[Dravion]

I have...but it was a couple of years ago. My old group from Missouri, where I use to live came up to celebrate my 21st birthday, and I called off work and told them I was sick. We met at their hotel room and gamed in their room then bar hopped the rest of the night, after a great 10 hour gaming session.

[nijineko]

i have never called in without a legitimate reason. legitimate to me.

in fact, come to think of it. i don't think i've ever had work dispute the legitimacy of my reasons. just the frequency. ^^ and for those, i had medical documentation. =D

[rabkala]

To the phone; *cough* I am so sick, I can't make it.

Off the phone: Wow, I feel miraculously better. No sense wasting the day going to work.

:D

[Mulsiphix]

I will admit though that every time I have called in sick to pursue some form of entertainment, I always feel guilty and the days activities feel quite empty. In the end I know I'm letting somebody down that was counting on me and that never settles well. Not to mention I usually find myself really needing the pay I missed that day when it comes time to pay my bills. I think karma definitely comes into play when you call in sick for no good reason. This is most obvious when your actually sick and they won't cut you a break :rolleyes:

[nijineko]

i'm not so sure about the karma angle. i had good reasons every time, and they still gave me crap. 'course it was the government i was working for at the time....

[tesral]

i'm not so sure about the karma angle. i had good reasons every time, and they still gave me crap. 'course it was the government i was working for at the time....

Dude, that is all they have in stock.

[Mulsiphix]

Dude, that is all they have in stock.LOL :D. Just like the DMV. Noway your dealing with them and walking away going "well that was a pleasant experience" :p

[tesral]

LOL :D. Just like the DMV. Noway your dealing with them and walking away going "well that was a pleasant experience" :p

Thou kiddest not. The best I ever got was: "That wasn't too painful".

[nijineko]

my last experience was on the order of 'whoops, did we fail to catch another error on your license?' x3....

[Mulsiphix]

Last time I went to the DMV was six years ago. They told me I had to call some number because my license was locked. I called and they said I owed somebody $6,000 for a car accident I had four years earlier. I didn't have the money to get a lawyer to work it out for me so I just didn't go back. Been hitching a ride ever since. Thank god I don't leave the house that often and I'm married :o

[nijineko]

eventually it'll either be sent to collections, or it'll be dropped. the problem is knowing how long to wait till that'll happen. the collections is easy, you'll get phone calls. the other won't happen if you keep showing your face and reminding them of your existance. ^^ seems like you're on the right track so far. you could always get a scooter. if they are under 15-30cc in size, they are legal to drive without a license.

or you could always stand upon your constitutional rights. according to the law, you cannot be required to have a license to drive. they never TELL you that, of course, but it's true. you are guarenteed in the constitution the right to free and uninhibited travel "by the means of the day".

back then, that meant horses and buggys and wagons and coaches. nowadays, that means cars. but the law has not changed. so you can legally drive without a license, if you are an american citizen. ^^ i have a friend who did this. after about 4 months he got pulled over and taken in cause he had no license. he cited his constitutional rights, and that took the officer back.

well, they held him downtown for a while, but had to let him go, because they could not legally charge him with anything, as he had techinically not broken the law!! the judge said, that it was a personal first, that she'd run into this situation, but she wasn't going to open the can of worms by trying to rule one way or the other on it. so they had to let him go.

strange but true! =D

[Mulsiphix]

The Details Of The Story For Those Interested

I was in a car accident in 1999. My car was demolished by a very large truck which the driver himself admitted to police only had a scratch on the bumper. Two weeks later I got a bill from Farmers Insurance for the paint bill for said bumper. I didn't pay it, as I now had no job and was already being evicted from my apartment. I never heard anything about it again. Two years later I went into the DMV to renew my license and they said I had to call a number. When I called the number they couldn't tell me why I owed $6,000. They gave me his name (which I remembered) and an address. They said I had to resolve the matter which him and that no futher information was available, not even a phone number.

I called that same DMV given number several times and nobody would transfer me to a supervisor and the information given to me was always the same. I did a little research and found that under Texas law you could not be sued for anything if you were not informed (served papers) of a lawsuit within two years of the date the incident occurred.

I never heard from Farmers Insurance, I never received a letter in the mail, I was not served papers in any fashion for a lawsuit; I was never contacted or made aware of any lawsuit. I owe $6,000 to this guy but have no direct way to contact him, his attorney, or reference the court case in which he was awarded this sum of money. Basically I should be able to get out of this if I can hire an attorney to look at my case. I've already tried looking up pro-bono lawyers and couldn't find anybody that would take my case. I don't think it would cost more than a couple thousands to resolve this matter but have been "hardly making it by" for the last eight years. Not to mention my wife drives and we don't even actually own a car (we share one with my mom who lives five miles away).

I'm certain I could fix this if I had the funds but it has never really been something I "needed" to do, not that I could afford it. If it was more pressing I'm sure I could find a way to come up with the money but so far it hasn't been worth my trouble. For all I know it has worked itself out by now. I haven't been back to the DMV in eight years :rolleyes:

[Snuffy]

$6k for a paint job? Something smells fishy. Did you have insurance when the accident happened and were you given a copy of the accident report?

[nijineko]

very fishy. and your car should have been paid for if you had insurance.

[Mulsiphix]

I didn't even have liability. If I had a copy of the accident report, as I don't recall now, it is long gone. I've moved about nine times since that apartment, one was a breakup where I lost just about everything to my name. I'm sure I could find it if I dig though.

[nijineko]

wow, you could make a country western-ish rpg about you life, mul! call it "vagabond:i ain't got no luck, and then it goes downhill!" the rpg of chaotic misery. well, it'd make an interesting ccg, at the very least. ^^

[Mulsiphix]

Thats a great idea. So far I've only created a custom MTG card set for my life and the car accident troubles were one of the expansions. Maybe I should turn my misery into gold! I know a fellow sufferer who made the jump and got picked up (http://www.white-wolf.com/pimp/index.php) by White Wolf.

[cplmac]

In the 16 years since getting out of the military, I have only called of twice for being sick. Unfortunately for me, both times involved puking my guts out due to some stomach virus. Would not wish that illness on anyone. The second time was this past December. To make matters worse, my wife and youngest daughter had it at the same time.

[nijineko]

that happened to us once too. all three (at the time) of us caught something nasty and spent a week or so hovering over the toilet or trashcan.... little boy got paranoid and started crying if he saw us pick up and move the trashcan. =( poor guy!

[cplmac]

Fortunately, I don't think my daughter will remember it since she was only 10 months old at the time. Also, ours was only a 24 hour ordeal. I would hate to have to deal with that for a whole week.

[Mulsiphix]

As a teenager somebody convinced me it would be a good idea, for "fun", to grind up these plant seeds (wont say what). I got the "fun" but before it hit I had the worst puking session of my entire life. Turns out the human stomach cannot digest the husks of these particular seeds. My stomach rejected every last teeny tiny bit over a thirty minute period. I used to hate throwing up so bad. I hated the gut wrenching and abdominal pain. I never touched the stuff again and whenever I get sick I'm always thankful it is never even close to what I went through when I was a teen :(

[tesral]

As a teenager somebody convinced me it would be a good idea, for "fun", to grind up these plant seeds (wont say what). I got the "fun" but before it hit I had the worst puking session of my entire life. Turns out the human stomach cannot digest the husks of these particular seeds. My stomach rejected every last teeny tiny bit over a thirty minute period. I used to hate throwing up so bad. I hated the gut wrenching and abdominal pain. I never touched the stuff again and whenever I get sick I'm always thankful it is never even close to what I went through when I was a teen :(

Nature's way of telling you not to do that. I'm with y'all on not liking to puke. I had the stomach virus thing last year. Ugh. I felt fine as long as nothing but clear liquids touched my stomach.

[nijineko]

9 days. 9 days of nothing but saltines and liquids. and for the first three, i couldn't even take the saltines.

[Mulsiphix]

Saltines remind me of a crash diet I did that only involved eating rice cakes. Now even the smell of them invokes nausea :(

[tesral]

Saltines remind me of a crash diet I did that only involved eating rice cakes. Now even the smell of them invokes nausea :(

They do that to me and I never did the diet. The things remains me of packing peanuts, but without the yummy plastic flavor.

[Drohem]

Those rice cakes are like eating styrofoam or cardboard, yuk!

[cplmac]

I would rather chew on an old shoe before one of those rice cakes. I don't think that the shoe would be as chewy.

[rabkala]

I had a girlfriend who was really into the rice cakes. Even bizarre flavored ones that tasted nothing like what they claimed. Then again, compared to her cooking, even rice cakes seemed edible. I guess I would rather die fat and happy if rice cakes were my only option for losing weight.

[Drohem]

Amen brother, amen!

[Mulsiphix]

I second that! Praise rabkala! Thou speaketh the truth!!

I literally cannot eat them anymore. Funny how something, not rice cakes though, can taste so good but after you eat it over and over again you start to hate it. I can still drink orange soda and feel like I'm drinking watered down Flintstones vitamins :eek:

[nijineko]

the ones made in japan are actually better. they fry them in soy sause and add (very light) flavoring. they actually have taste. ^^ not the ideal diet, but better than the versions over here in america. a couple of them are actually good, but you have to find just the right ones. out of the 50,000 varieties that are in the stores over there. ^^; besides, you know the girls that eat those rice cakes are slathering them with mayo or dressing or other stuff. especially when noone else is looking.

[Mulsiphix]

I've heard of fried rice but never fried rice cakes :p. I wonder how one of those tastes. Even more interested to learn if I can find them here in the states. Sounds delicious with the added flavor and crunch.

[nijineko]

do yourself a f(l)avor. ;D go find an asian grocery store, and try those. or better yet, try both for comparision.

[cplmac]

do yourself a f(l)avor. ;D go find an asian grocery store, and try those. or better yet, try both for comparision.


Was wondering if the price of "western" food in specialty stores in asia is as expensive as the asian food is in specialty stores here? Or is it because it is considered to be healthier for you?

[boulet]

Was wondering if the price of "western" food in specialty stores in asia is as expensive as the asian food is in specialty stores here? Or is it because it is considered to be healthier for you?

Seriously ? They charge a lot on asian food where you are ? When I go to asian supermarkets I usually find very inexpensive treats there. For instance I stock on various frozen dumplings/pot stickers, easy to prepare and tasty to eat. Candy and dry fruits are really a bargain too. And should I even mention how affordable are the tea, noodles and rice in general ?

[cplmac]

Seriously ? They charge a lot on asian food where you are ? When I go to asian supermarkets I usually find very inexpensive treats there. For instance I stock on various frozen dumplings/pot stickers, easy to prepare and tasty to eat. Candy and dry fruits are really a bargain too. And should I even mention how affordable are the tea, noodles and rice in general ?


Yes, if you are in a store that only sells that food. In regular grocery stores, it's not that expensive, but the brands names are different and seem to be "americanized" versions of that item. Maybe the local market isn't as large here and the laws of supply and demand are coming into play here.

[boulet]

Maybe the local market isn't as large here and the laws of supply and demand are coming into play here.
I would expect that the size of your local Asian community is of importance indeed... Just like with any cultural group, where they are in number you can expect to find a good supply (in price and authenticity) of foreign food/products.

[Mulsiphix]

Specialty store prices are usually rape here in the states. If you can manage to find international goodies, like Pocky at Walmart, at big chain stores then your good to go. Otherwise you better be ready to pay. I used to import Pocky at $2 a box and paid shipping. Now I can get it for $0.97 cents at my local Walmart.

[at5115]

Was wondering if the price of "western" food in specialty stores in asia is as expensive as the asian food is in specialty stores here? Or is it because it is considered to be healthier for you?

When I lived in Japan (for 3 years)- McDonald's was touted as health food :(.

But yes, the two "Foreign Food" stores I frequented (before going native so as not to squander my meagre pay packet) were quite expensive - but everything has to be shipped or flown in. Although, curiously, the cheapest place to get a decent hot dog in Fukushima was at the movie theater,

Melefresh

[nijineko]

and the only place to get real peanut butter in japan was waaaaay out in the plains of the chiba penisula... =(

shakey's pizza was a great bargin... tabehodai (all you can eat) lunch buffet. we would have to sneak in casue as soon as they noticed us (americans) there, they started putting out all the extreme pizzas. (squid corn cheese pizza, anyone?)

a lot of places, especially the nikuhodai (all-you-can-eat-meat places) even had signs stating that americans were only allowed to eat for one hour.

however, the treasure trove of all resturaunts that i've ever eaten at in japan, was in the college town of tsukuba-shi in ibaraki-ken. tiny little place called "ran ran". hole in the street type of place, in the middle of a bunch of college danchi's that should have been condemed about 30 years ago, just off of nishi-odori (west street) behind the karaoke place down the street from the onsen. only 700yen and they'd give you a mixing bowl sized bowl of heaping rice and whatever else you'd ordered tossed in. it was great. even we could barely finish off one normal sized bowl. as far as cheap eating out went, it was heaven. and it tasted good too! =D college dives are sometimes the best.

and yes, all the foreign food marts over in japan (that i saw) were insanely expensive. although i'd occasionally cough up the money for real peanut butter.

at least the milk was good! 4% minimum! =D back in the states, even "whole milk" tasted like water to me.

[StarLady98]

I've called in 15 times in 2007. 5 times because of my kids, once because I was sick, Twice due to parties, the rest were greatly influenced by staying up too late gaming.

That was most of mine, and it was in my college days. It was generally a kind of "Oh crud, when did it become 5AM?" type of deal. I felt sleep was a little more critical than attempting to work at that point.

I will admit to calling of work to play Final Fantasy X though....

[Jakabok]

In my first years of college, I either slept in due to late gaming and missed classes, or skipped evening classes so I could make the game on time.

Jakabok

[Ghoulsick]

I haven't ever called in lat to work or called in so I didn't have to show. Of course, I do run my own business now. When I was younger there wasn't even an option to call in. So, I guess I'm lucky

[nijineko]

looking to expand your business any? ;D

[Webhead]

I've never called in to work (or skipped classes in school) for "RPG" purposes but that probably has a lot to do with our play schedule.

In high school we played at lunch or on the weekends...not much reason or opportunity for skipping school as most of us had no car and none of us lived in anything close to the same neighborhoods.

In college, everyone who played was either going to school or had a steady 9-5 job, so we only played on Friday or Saturday nights. Nobody was taking any night classes, so there was no conflict there.

Joining the workforce was much the same. All my players work pretty steady 9-5, so that leaves little use to "calling in" as even if I did, everybody else would be at work and I would have no one to game with. We also are moderately distant (30 minutes or so) geographically, which makes play on weeknights impractical. Add to that the families of 3 of us in the group and you begin to see how relatively little leeway there is in scheduling the kind of gaming that would keep us from going to work.

Part of me misses the "play 'till 3 in the morning" gaming that we used to do. I'm just happy that we manage to get together to game consistently twice a month. Any less than that would probably drive me nuts.

[Thoth-Amon]

Even though i have never called in sick for an rpg game, i voted "yes" in the poll. Why? Because if ever there was a conflict with work and a game, i would call in sick.

Thoth-Amon

[Vicor]

I've used my sick-time for days off to play games or to recover form playing them. This may happen once a year, but when it does the "illness" usually will last a couple days. Might as well make it worth taking the time off.

[Stormhound]

I've never called in sick to play, but it looks like I'm calling in sick today. Bleh... :puke:

[Ramzei]

I have never and will never put my job or reputation on the line to miss a day of work under false pretenses. I have worked 20 hour days after getting one hour of sleep due to gaming, but NEVER call off unless I am all but dead.

[Briarthorn]

I called in sick to increase my odds of getting a house placement on ultima online. And... I called in sick because I stayed up too late playing World of Warcraft online and there was no way I could make it to work and not fall asleep at the wheel. Haven't done it for dnd yet but there's still time. :biggrin:

[Thoth-Amon]

I have never and will never put my job or reputation on the line to miss a day of work under false pretenses. I have worked 20 hour days after getting one hour of sleep due to gaming, but NEVER call off unless I am all but dead.
False pretenses? I'm allowed a number of personal days a year so i take advantage of what's rightfully given to me. Use them or lose them.

Thoth-Amon

[Ramzei]

False pretenses? I'm allowed a number of personal days a year so i take advantage of what's rightfully given to me. Use them or lose them.

Thoth-Amon

One of my jobs included sick days in with vacation. The other one, which was the way you describe, I did use my sick days. But they were planned out in advance with my boss so I wasn't sticking anyone.

[nijineko]

the last time i called in sick, the supervisor hung up on me. cheh. i never call off unless there is a true (and legitimate) need.

[drewshi]

As a kid in high school, I called in sick to work to play D&D. It was actually a 24 hour marathon session and I knew I couldn't get the time off as we were short staffed. Ah, the evils of youth.

[Briarthorn]

I also called in sick to see Lord of the Rings when it came out... I don't think I'd do that now though. My job is more important than it was in those days.

[SpiffyBananaFoot]

I chose "I've called-in-sick to work (or school) because of a RPG." because I used to call in for just about any reason at all. In thinking about this question I am disturbed because at some point in the not so distant past, I made a transition to not calling in sick at all even when I am sick. I am not sure when I made that transition, but here I am and I'm not so sure I'm happy about it.

[nijineko]

your boss is probably pretty happy, though. ^^

[rabkala]

at some point in the not so distant past, I made a transition to not calling in sick at all even when I am sick. I am not sure when I made that transition, but here I am and I'm not so sure I'm happy about it.

I almost made that transition once... Then I felt like I was dieing inside and called in sick because of that too!!! :p