People who have acquired a sufficient amount of sick days from work do not hesitate using them when they feel under the weather.
Unfortunately, there are those who take advantage of the system and call out from work for reasons other than feeling ill—which can inconvenience other employees picking up for their slack.
But cases vary, as it did for Redditor onionskincopy, an office worker who suffers from a chronic condition.
After causing some drama with their boss, the Original Poster (OP) visited the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA for doing something when I called out sick?”
The OP explained:
“I work at an office doing tech work and billing. I’m not a manager nor is my job vital, meaning if I call out sick or don’t show up it is not immediately the end of the world.”
“Most of work takes place on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. This happened yesterday.”
“I suffer from IBS and yesterday I had a flair up I thought was going to be worse than it ended up being. Normally I sh*t my guts out and wish for death but yesterday only started bad, by midday I was feeling a bit better so I decided to have some fun and do my hobby.”
“I am obsessed with Julia Child and decided that I wanted to pull a Julie Powell and cook my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1. 365 days and 500 recipes.”
“It’s actually really fun and I’m learning a lot. I am also blogging and vlogging the experience. I don’t have many fans but it’s more for catharsis than views, and if I can make someone else smile then it’s an added bonus.”
“I called the office sick line at 6am, three hours before I was due in. My boss called back while I was I the toilet to confirm and wish me better health.”
“By noon I was feeling better so I started blogging. I mentioned in my blog post and the vlogg that I had a horrible morning with my IBS but was finally feeling better (and 10lbs lighter, lol). I cooked, posted the video and the post and thought no more of it.”
“I got a text this morning from my boss complimenting me on my blog but telling me that my IBS won’t be a valid excuse in future because I’d been caught out using it as an excuse to stay home and cook.”
“I tried to explain that I couldn’t know I’d feel better nor that I can’t be expected to sit at home doing nothing all day because I might get seen not being sick.”
“My boss told me he wasn’t saying that but he was saying that if I was well enough to cook then I was well-enough to work. He told me in future if I called out for any reason I would need a doctor’s note.”
“He said it was a rude move to call out and then do my hobby whole the rest of the office worked.”
“Was I really such a d*ck for doing my hobby when I called off d*ck?”
Strangers on the internet were asked to declare one of the following:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Many Redditors criticized the OP for their lack of discretion and declared YTA.
“What were you thinking? When you call out sick, rule #1 is don’t post pics or vids of yourself online doing fun stuff and looking like you’re in tip-top condition.”
“If I were your boss, I’d be flippin’ pissed, too. I don’t blame him for wanting a note in the future. No one to blame but yourself on this one. YTA.” – idrow1
“I couldn’t upvote your comment more than once so thought I would highlight the whole thing for extra emphasis on how right you are on everything.”
“What the hell was op thinking? If you are too sick to go to work, that’s fine, no issue there. If you feel better later on and want to indulge in your hobby, that’s also fine.”
“JUST DONT PLASTER YOUR HOBBY ALL OVER THE INTERNET WHERE IT MIGHT GET BACK TO YOUR BOSS BECAUSE THAT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A SLACKER WHO’S TAKING ADVANTAGE.”
“Sorry for shouting but I just wanted to make sure op gets the message. Either op is young or naive or lacking in professional self awareness but you don’t call out from work and then spend the day advertising your hobby.”
“Of course the boss is going to be p!ssed and not believe you when he sees videos of you happily going about your business.”
“There wouldn’t be an issue if op hadn’t blogged. What the hell was he/she thinking?” – PaddyCow
“It’s one of those things where if I were the boss I’d be more upset about the stupidity. It’s making him look bad! If OP was feeling better he could have/should have contacted his boss and asked if it was worth coming in for a half day.”
“Then if he gets a no he’s more free to enjoy his day without fear of looking like he played hooky. Worth noting I also have a chronic illness that causes flares.”
“I get that it can be hard to predict what is going to be tolerable and what isn’t.”
“But don’t ever call in sick and then document that maybe you didn’t really need to!” – barefootcuntessa_
“This 100%. I also have IBS so I understand not always knowing when you will feel ok again, but you NEVER post yourself being fine later that day if you called in sick from work.”
“You could have posted the blog the next day or on your day off. This was all on you.” – Operakittycat
“Your boss is 100% right. You should have either stayed away from blogging and stayed home, or gone into work if you were feeling better.”
“It’s cooking with Karma that you got caught. Life is not a movie and you are not Ferris Bueller.”
“YTA (And my mind is boggling at why didn’t you just post the video another day?)” – Dszquphsbnt
People had many questions.
“YTA. Why didn’t you go in when you felt better?”
“Why are you sharing your IBS JOURNEY ON A FOOD BLOG? JUST. NO.”
“Why are you even asking why people were upset about you VLOGGING when you should have been at work? Ummmmmmmmmmmmm”
“Also, why are you cooking foods that cause IBS?” – goodness___gracious
“As an ibs person ill answer a couple of questions”
“1. having a food blog for those with ibs or other conditions can be really helpful in finding “safe” recipes. Sometimes you have to get very creative.”
“2. IBS triggers are different for everyone. I have bad reactions to dairy, meat, and fatty fish but have no problem with acidic foods or (most) grains.
“I still think OP is YTA – I cannot tell you how hard it is to get people to understand how much pain IBS can cause, so op’s actions here may make boss less considerate of other coworkers who have it.” – firerosearien
Overall, Redditors thought the OP should have kept a low profile after they started feeling better, and many believed the day’s vlogging could have waited another day for posting.