Stoic Smugness

When people are out sick, my coworker thinks they are just being weak.

Someone had the flu, and she said, "I have the same thing, but I come in to work anyway."

Gee thanks, that's how the rest of us got infected.

Or, do you think it's possible that they might be sicker than you? Your cold doesn't knock you out.  Is that definitive proof that everyone else's illness is just as mild as yours?

And now someone else has let us know that she will be out for the next three weeks due to a medical problem.  She is keeping the nature of her illness private, but that doesn't keep my coworker from speculating.  "I think it's stress.  I have stress too, but I can deal with it.  Some people can't deal with it."

Humans irk me.

But then I go home to my refuge.  Immersed in music, dance, color, the patterns of Celtic knots, I luxuriate in contentment.