i am ill again with tonsilitis. as i stare blearily out across the trading floor, gazing over s.b.q.'s perfectly coiffed blonde hair while consuming my buttered toast and lemsip (kindly donated by s.b.p.), i wonder why it is that some people can call in sick and live without fear of being struck by lightning and why it is that i am not one of them.

could it be because of my gender? but according to a 1999 study, men take fewer sick days than women - the fact that men don't have that 'time of the month' could be one factor. my reluctance to succumb to the easy option of calling in a sickie could also be related to the fact that i live in england - yet another study conducted in 2001 showed that for every one day lost per 1,000 employees in southwest england, scotland lost a whopping 136 days. but then i also stumbled across a more recent set of figures - spring 2002, to be exact, which shows the exact opposite.

no, it seems that feeling guilty about calling in sick unless i'm half dead must have to do with other factors. perhaps it is because i am from korea? they have no statutory sick pay there. or maybe it has more to do with my parents being fairly strict with me when i was a child? or even some sort of karma - maybe in a past life i was a slave who got tortured for bunking off work or something. or maybe it's just because i know i won't get much sympathy from anyone - as a teenager i went to see the family doctor because i was suffering from a severe cold. "do more aerobic exercise", he said to me, sternly, as if that would stop the heaving coughs.

whatever the reason, it is unlikely you will see me take a sick day unless, well, i am really sick - hovering above the borders of life and death.

sorry s.b.p., i may end up using all of your kleenex balsam tissues......