Last week several of the attorneys were out of the office w/ a flu. I work for 3 particular attys and one of them was affected. One attorney and our paralegal decided not to call and bother her, afterall one needs to rest, both physically and mentally. The other atty decided to call her every other hour, jeez and when she couldn't get her on the phone, asked me to find her, thought she was missing or something! (This atty is the one I've mentioned again, she loses everything and we've spent hours in the past looking for her phone, checkbook, keys, wallet, etc., even to the point of cancelling payment, service, etc. -- only to discovery it was excactly where she left that particular item last, i.e., purse or car) -- she just panicks. Thus, when I would not call the ill atty, she would call and call and call! Seems the ill atty, in effort to not spread the germs to her toddler son, went to the grandmothers, took medicine, and took a much needed nap.

Today, sometime at o'dark thirty, after being sick all night, I took my temperature of 103 and left a voicemail with the HR department. I then slept off and on until 2ish. Then the phone rang, I missed the call, it was the office. I called back and it appears that the HR individual is out of the office and no one got my message until around lunch time! So I explained to HR director what I did and that my fever was down to 99 degrees. She said I sounded like I was much better, that I had not been sick at all! Gosh, I'm so embarrased, they did not get my message and I was a no show! They know I'd never do anything like that and said they thought that since I'm alone that something may have happened to me. Geez, I'm certain there was some sentiment, yet I also get the feeling HR doesn't quite believe me! I just felt awful, sore, and could barely make it from the bathroom to the kitchen. HR said they will ensure calls are forwarded so that no unheard messages are missed. Now, if I were an atty, no one would have thought anything negative and only wished for a speedy recovery! They all just assumed that either I was being deceptive or harmed.

MustangGal...
Sorry for the difficulties...are you feeling better? Fever tends to follow a curve with spikes at the same time every day until it is gone...take care...don't relapse...

Dear MustangGal,

How are you feeling today? It sounds like there's a double standard at your office: some are allowed to be sick, and others aren't. I'm so sorry they weren't very kind to you, especially when you were feeling poorly!

I have a suggestion that you might or might not find helpful, but for about four years I worked in the newsroom of a newspaper--and the place was really filthy. Newspaper offices are notoriously gross, and this one was no exception. The entire newsroom was one giant petri dish of germs with everyone hacking and coughing.

One thing that I learned to do in order to be able to exist in that environment on a daily basis was to put myself in a little bubble.

Here's how I did it: I got a lavender plant for my desk. It was my first line of defense. And I also bought myself two bottles of good quality, pure essential oils that I kept in my desk drawer: essential oil of lavender, and essential oil of pine.

Throughout the day I would "pet" my little lavender plant. By touching its leaves, which would crush its molecules, the plant would release a subtle fragrance into the air immediately by my desk (without infringing on my co-workers), plus the plant oil would get on my fingers. But your fingers don't feel "oily." You don't even know the oil is on your fingers, but you can smell it.

All pure essential oils have, to a greater or lesser extent, germicidal and anti-bacterial properties.

In addition, as most people already know, the scent of pure lavender is very relaxing. Its fragrance impacts the part of our brain that causes use to "chill" and calm down.

So my lavender plant served a dual purpose on my desk: it helped protect me from bad bugs, and it helped manage stress.

I kept the bottles of essential oils (the lavender and the pine) in my desk drawer. If, on a particular day, I needed a bigger "hit" of lavender essence than my little plant could provide, I would smell the oil right out of the bottle, or I would sprinkle two or three drops of the essential oil on a kleenex and inhale from that.

Also, lavender oil is the only essential oil that you can safely apply "neat" on your skin without diluting it in jojoba oil or another base. If I was feeling particularly stressed at work, or I had a headache, I would put a drop of the oil directly on each temple.

It got to the point where coworkers were intrigued, and others came by to "pet" my office plant. People seemed to enjoy it.

As for the essential oil of pine, I kept that bottle in my desk drawer to "sniff" as needed--straight from the bottle or in a tissue. But definitely do not apply pine directly to your skin!! Pine is great for respiratory issues. When folks in the newsroom started sneezing and coughing--I would regularly visit my stash of oils every few hours. Plus, the scent of pine is uplifiting and refreshing--so if I needed to, I could take a walk in the forest during the work day without ever leaving my desk!

Although I am a certified aromatherapist (in addition to being a writer), I was very subtle about all of this aromatherapy stuff in the newsroom. But it caught on as people would stop by my desk. They seemed to enjoy it--and, I swear, I never got all of the crud the others seemed to get. And I worked in that environment for four years.

Anyway, this is one of those "for what it's worth" posts, but I thought I would share a couple of tricks that have helped me (and continue to help me, even though I don't work in the newsroom anymore).

It sounds like the one lawyer--the gal who loses her keys and such--could use a couple of lavender plants on her desk!

I hope you are feeling much, much better today, MustangGal.

Warmest,
Melanie

Lavender is one of my favorite. I use Yardly lavender cream all the time. Mustang, where are you? Hope you are feeling better.

chick

I wonder if Mustang is still not feeling well? Like you, Chick, I am wondering where she is.

The crud is really going around here in Connecticut. And it seems to linger for awhile. So maybe Mustang's still under-the-weather.

I have never smelled the Yardley Lavender Cream, so I will have to check that out.

Yes, thank you gals, I am feeling better. This is a strange flu with lasting side effects. Melanie, thank you for the idea of using scents to destress! I'll give it a try and keep you posted!

Glad to hear you're feeling better. It is a strange bug. So many folks are saying that it lingers on for quite awhile.

Take care and have a peaceful evening.