I DO work at home!

If you're like the rest of us with home offices, you've undoubtedly come across the skeptics of the world. You know the ones, the people who smile politely when you answer the questions "what do you do?" and "where do you work?" Despite what some people think, working at home is not a euphemism. So, I get kind of annoyed when people who aren't feeling well tell me how lucky I am that I “work at home.”

Let's face it--we all have days when we just don't feel well. I have days when my head aches, I can't stop coughing and my bones hurt from the chills that are rattling through my body. In traditional work circumstances, I'd be on the phone to my boss, hacking away while I briefed him on the day's agenda because I am definitely staying home. But what am I supposed to do when my office and my sick zone are the same place? Do I tough it out or do I pack it in for the day?

I don't know about you but my deadlines don't disappear because I have a cold. Nor do I have someone who can cover my work for me. So, while today I don't feel lousy (or even sick at all) --the person who called me obviously did and, I'm sorry to say, didn't get a whole lot of sympathy from me—there will be days that I will be sick and working. That's right, working, at home!