Why are men so bad at being sick?

Well if you couldn’t tell I have been afflicted with the same pox that is plaguing many in our fair city. No it is not some life debilitating disease, in fact it is one of the most harmless of viruses. The common cold. It saps your energy, your will to cook or clean or do just about anything.

But it is no surprise to any wife, mother, or sister than men are just lousy when they are sick? Is it just because we like to bitch and moan more? Or is it as one of my close friends things that it is our loss of being in control that we can’t stand. Or is it maybe that we finally have something we can complain about without looking wimpy or wussy (unlike football or home improvement injuries). Either way I am sick and I hate it. On the positive side I have been able to stay inside all day watching sappy movies and eating the most gourmet food Campbell’s has to offer.

So a funny thing happened at work yesterday. We had our monthly happy hour where everyone in our group pretends to like each other and spend free time together. We were schmoozing, playing cars, drinking some wine when our director walks in and goes to the white board and starts to draw.

He creates a tree with an X at the top. Down the left side he write God, down the right side he writes no god. For each of those he creates two more lives either believe or don’t believe. Under believe for god was a happy face, under both don’t believes was a frowning face and under believe no god was a neutral face. He then proceeded to go around the room and ask each person that works for him to place themselves on this tree. One person said they weren’t sure (which to anyone intelligent enough meant they didn’t want to answer), but he couldn’t let it go, so he pushed and pushed until that person finally gave an answer. Most of you reading this should be shuddering at the very thought of a manager asking his group to do this at work. Can we say lawsuit? But I thought about this. I know exactly where I stand on that tree, why did this make me upset? All day (while lumped on this couch) I have thought about it.

I think it is less about knowing what I believe in and having to tell a large group of people and then having to defend ones belief. It is one thing to do it with friends, but not my manager. Oh well, I am leaving the group anyway, but for any of you out there that are managers, please never do this to co-workers. Its just in really bad taste.