Sick Days should not be spent SICK

I am a father, and as the leader of a family, my health is important.

I eat well, I exercise, and I drink plenty of water. Overall, I take pretty good care of myself, and I pride myself on my ability to navigate life without much medication. In my life, getting sick is definitely the exception, not the rule.

But, when I DO get sick, it’s absolutely horrendous. I feel horrible, and I’m rendered totally useless. In worse cases, I need to bring myself to a medical clinic to get proper checkup and treatment.

And, the kicker is that, usually, when one person in the family gets sick, EVERYONE gets sick…School days get missed, work gets left undone, and the day-to-day routine of family life grinds to a screeching halt.

Now, I do admit that a day of “hooky” from time to time is good for the spirit of both parent and child.

I mean, we have all lived vicariously through Matthew Broderick’s character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at one point or another, have we not?! We have all even faked a sniffle or stomach ache or two [or three] to proclaim that today [yes, TODAY!] is a “Sick Day”…some of us have even justified our deceptive Academy Award-worthy performances by saying, “Well, I WAS REALLY SICK and tired…of work.”

Fair enough. Eh?

But, actual sick days, like when you are actually […cough, cough…] SICK?! They are EXCRUCIATING, literally and figuratively. They hit you like a ton of bricks and leave you totally immobile, absolutely useless. To add insult to injury, sometimes they occur when you’ve already recklessly forfeited all of your golden sick days by living your own days off like Ferris. [Oops!] It’s one of those sick days when you desperately just want to talk to your trusted pharmacist or even their Drugstore Pharmacy Tech to assist you in getting your prescribed medicines so your agony won’t be prolonged anymore.

Needless to say, “REAL” sick days wreck everything, and they should be avoided at all costs…Unless you are, ironically, NOT-AT-ALL sick.

All that said, this year, I promised myself that I’d get my flu shot from a reliable health care center. I’ve been getting one every year for the past three years, and I have been proud of every decision to do so.

But, sometimes, I do procrastinate.

When I worked in an actual office, getting my flu vaccine was as easy as 1 – 2 – 3! My employer’s Human Resources department would generally set a date for flu shots.

[1] I’d schedule a time slot, [2] show up, and [3] get my shot. Done deal!

Nowadays, as a work-at-home dad who has a very flexible employer, looking out for my health and well-being takes a bit more individual effort and initiative on my part. My employer’s HR department is located all the way across the country, and darn it, they simply will not fly out to visit me to render a flu shot. I suppose I’ll do my best to forgive them.

But, as I have recently discovered, getting my annual flu vaccine is still as easy as 1 – 2 – 3. Apparently, I can simply visit my local CVS pharmacy^®, because they’ve got this incredible ultra-convenient service tucked inside, called MinuteClinic^®.

And, MinuteClinic^® totally lives up to its name.

As you’d expect, it’s literally your “clinic in a minute”, with a broad range of health services, whenever you need it, even when you’re least expecting it, with no appointment necessary.

In my case, it really was as easy as 1 – 2 – 3! Allow me to demonstrate…

Despite my alleged fast-paced tech career and the slightly exaggerated and misleading story that I often repeat to others, that every waking moment of my day is spent “on-the-go”, working at breakneck speed on some major client project, negotiating some humongous business deal, developing the next ground-breaking dot-com or mobile app idea, or just being an involved dad, I actually DO surprisingly enjoy my fair share of “downtime”.

On a typical workday, there’s this little gap of time in the morning, just after I drop my son off to school. This is my alone time, spent in solitude, mostly on listening to podcasts, on reflection, on meditation, on running a small errand or two, or just enjoying a moment of quiet calm before career-mode kicks in and I’m off and running my daily business.

This is my “golden time of day”. Business can and must always wait, each day, until after I’ve enjoyed this golden time of inner peace.

During one of my recent golden times, I was returning to the home office, after having dropped my son off to school, and I realized that I needed some shampoo, deodorant, mouthwash, and a few other toiletries. So, I naturally hit up my local CVS pharmacy^®.

I walked into the store, welcomed by signs everywhere inviting me to the MinuteClinic^®.

I searched for the deodorant aisle. I found it in Aisle 7, and was reminded once again that there was a MinuteClinic^® in the store.

As I scanned the shelves of anti-perspirant, from Axe to Speed Stick, a small sign alerted me that MinuteClinic^® was giving “Flu Shots Today” and that I’d qualify for a “20% Off Shopping Pass” for CVS store purchases if I’d just stop procrastinating and go ahead and get my flu shot already. At that point, something clicked in my brain, and I was SOLD.

So, I headed to the back of the store and decided to give MinuteClinic^® a try.

I approached the back of the store and spotted a sign telling me that MinuteClinic^® was literally as easy as 1 – 2 – 3.

Just [1] Walk up, [2] Sign in, and [3] Feel better.

Okay. Works for me!

Moments later, I walked up to a small touch-screen console with a stylus, telling me to sign in. A few taps of the stylus later, I was signed up for my flu shot. I was already 2/3 of the way done, in about a minute! After all, just showing up was 1/3 of the battle. Right?

Now, onto Step #3 — the “feeling better” part…

Gladly, I was the only one on the waiting list. You see, as a work-at-home dad, waiting in line for anything is virtually nonexistent, especially at 9:30 AM on weekdays, when most parents are stuck in traffic or locked up at the office.

So, a short while after signing in, I was ushered into the clinic room by a very pleasant and friendly nurse practitioner. She asked for my insurance card and a photo ID, which I supplied effortlessly, since I carry them both with me at all times. A few keystrokes on her keyboard later, the nurse practitioner proudly determined that my health insurance would cover 100% of the bill, then she fetched a dose of the flu vaccine and routinely worked her inoculation magic.

At that point, I was technically 3/3 completed with the MinuteClinic^® operation. The nurse handed me my “20% Off Shopping Pass” for my routine CVS shopping for the day, thanked me for coming, and I was on my merry way. Done deal!

And, while any shot in the arm [and the small sores that come with them] do NOT necessarily make me [quote-unquote] “feel better”, I did leave the MinuteClinic^® with a sense of ease and well-being of knowing that prevention is usually the key to good health.

With a flu shot in my hindsight, at least I’d be able to hoard my “sick days” for much greater pursuits in life than coughing my lungs out, enduring headaches, battling chills, and fighting flu symptoms. I also pack a few medicines from the Canadian Pharmacy just in case I do feel sickly.

After all, as my man Ferris said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but instead of feverishly coughing my lungs out, I’d rather spend MY “sick days” actually living my LIFE! Y’know…redlining a vintage Ferrari through the streets of Chicago, eating gourmet meals, visiting fine art galleries, attending spectacular sporting events with my friends, and [of course] kissing females like Sloane Peterson.

I mean, who wouldn’t?

…

@MinuteClinic #SpreadHealth

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About MinuteClinic^® – The medical clinic in CVS/Pharmacy^®
MinuteClinic^® makes health care easier for people with a lot going on. Their family nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide quality care every day, with convenient evening and weekend hours. They accept insurance and you don’t need an appointment. Just stop in when you need them.

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