Hi eeyore,
It's true, this unwritten code of ethics, and sometimes it's unethical, ironically. There have been many times in my 20+ yrs. in the business when I felt like I should be home recovering from some sickness or another, but instead came to work, because I knew that the place wouldn't function without me. Even now with my own business, I find myself occasionally working at times when I really shouldn't be. I think that you must be a perfectionist, who doesn't like to let people down, and that can, and will, lead to that defeated feeling when you are too sick to work.
I think that all you can do is be up front about your concerns from the start. There are plenty of people who make their limitations known from the beginning, and don't get taken advantage of in this way, but unfortunately, these don't seem to be the ones who rise to the top either. Continue taking pride in what you do, but be realistic about what you can do when your abilities are impaired (and I'm such a hypocrite saying all this BTW).
This unfortunate quality of the business is one of those things that you try to relate to rookies when they say they want to be in the business. On one hand, you don't want to turn them away, but you want to be truthful about the physical demands of the job, and most of the time, they look at you like you must be exaggerating. I wish that there were some way to stop this insanity, but especially in competitive urban areas, where talent is a dime a dozen, people who won't or can't do the job, will be replaced by those who can. No perfectionist could ever handle that, so we choose to work ourselves silly. The great thing about all that, is that we hone our skills that much better, because we eat, drink, and breathe our pastry all day (literally).
There are lots of corporate jobs that allow you sick days in the contract (What's that?). Maybe you can go that route instead. |