April Blogging Challenge: P is for "Playing Hooky"

I have a confession. I can cop to it now that I no longer work for my previous employer. In the 6.5 years that I worked there, I called in "sick" when I wasn't twice. And both times were in my last year. In my defense, I rarely ever call in sick anywhere, even when I am sick. And both times I did it, I was stressed and could really use the extra day. And the last time, I was going to lose all my sick time if I didn't use it and I was leaving soon anyway . . . so, yeah.

Last summer, my mom told me that Clay Walker was the headliner at the Shasta District Fair. I had seen him 15 years prior, and had been a big fan. He kind of went out of the spotlight for several years while he dealt with his MS. And now he's back. And he's still sexy. Anyway, my mom kinda-sorta (meaning, not really) twisted my arm to get me to call in sick to attend the concert in Anderson. It was totally worth it. She and I had a great evening. We sang along to songs we knew; my mom only knew some of his older stuff.

And the second time, was this past New Years. I called in sick for two days to make it look like I was actually sick, seeing as how it was a holiday. And Karma caught up to me, and I fought a nice cold and cough for quite awhile. The reason I called in sick (besides those mentioned above), was that I had been invited by WB to a New Years party. What you should understand is, that this holiday is one of those that never seems to work with me. It's rare for me to have a good New Years, and those that were good, I was at work. I just wanted a fun New Years. Is that really too much to ask for?

So, after much internal debate (and yes, truly there was), I finally decided to call in and attend the party. I felt guilty, but New Years is the lightest night at work, and considering I'd worked nearly every New Years since I was hired, I figured . . . what could they do - fire me? I had already put in my notice that I was leaving.

I played hooky to attend a party where I knew no one, except the guy who was hosting it. That made it awkward for me, I didn't know anyone. And I have a tendency to be a wallflower when that happens. Not long after I arrived there, everyone seemed to go off in groups to do stuff - and it was easy for them as they all knew each other. The girl cooking in the kitchen finally allowed me to help her. She was super nice, and we had a good time that night. Once people started piling back in, I started joking around with people. My only fear was being asked the question, "So, how do you know WB?" Because that is a very long and complicated answer to be fully honest. I really don't want to get into it here. So, instead of gulping and sputtering the truth, I simply told a white lie - "Oh, we went to Chico State." Now, I said white lie - the truth is, we both attended at roughly the same time, but we never met during that time. Truth is we met several years later. Luckily for me, no one really asked for further details, and thank God, as I'm not sure I could have thought my way out of that one too quickly.

I wound up having a good time. I met a lot of great people, one of those people had the talent to make me a drink that smelled like Kool-Aid, yet tasted like NyQuil. That's talent. I got my car really dirty for the first time. I'm talking serious mud.

So, playing hooky really isn't too bad if it's done in moderation. I figure twice in all the time I worked for my previous employer isn't bad at all. I know that there were people who did it quite often. While I felt guilty, I also recognized that I really needed the de-stressing. My old job was hard on me - I had a knot in my right shoulder so bad that it actually popped when I walked or moved my shoulder. You can ask my mom - she had to rub it out on more than one occasion.