So it was bound to happen; significant illness.
I was really hoping I would magically never get sick while in France, and not even out of some neurotic concern for my own health, but rather a simple desire to avoid healthcare en Francais.
On my latest return trip from Raleigh I failed to avoid the dreaded plane-plague. It's no secret that the worst variants of every viral bug can be found recirculating at thirty-thousand feet. I happened to catch a fairly common form of "kick you in the potatoes" flu, and fittingly enough it brought me down like a sack of said tubers.
I didn't locate an English speaking doctor in time to go in and get checked out, largely cause I was was too sick to muster of the energy to do so (it's a huge hassle to to pop into a convenience store I am unfamiliar with at this point, let alone try to find an Anglo or fluent English-speaking doctor on short notice), so I was unable to get a note for my missed days. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a good thing or a bad thing, but either way: c'est la vie.
What I did learn from this experience, besides the fact that I hate being sick (not exactly and earth shattering revelation) is an interesting bit of insight into the French view on personal healthcare.
Up until now I'd heard a couple odd stories float up from other expats, but they didn't really stick. I simply could not grok what they were trying to tell me with these stories, that's how foreign their lessons were.
This tidbit of French insight came to me today while speaking with my boss about my time away. Since I did not have a doctors note, I was unable to get the days off as "sick days" (there is no concept of a predefined allotment of sick days here in France as there is in Canada. Instead, you get as many days off as cleared by a doctor) so I had to use a couple of my vacation days.
He looked at me funny when I told him I would be using vacation days to cover my sick days (because it's a stupid thing to do), so I had to explain that I did not have a doctor yet, and thus did not have a note. The next expression on his face was immediate and unmistakeable, regardless of our separate native languages. It said "OMG!" and was quickly followed by the question that lent me this insight: "Well then how did you know what to do?!".
There is was, a simple and honest truth bundled in the form of a concerned question. How did I know how to handle a flu without seeing a doctor first. The question pinged around the inside my skull like a small calibre round. At first I felt he was mocking me, as that would be the only logical option were it any Canadian asking me, but it wasn't a Canadian and I had to quickly reconsider: Quickly.
My boss, a man who makes high-stress, high-stakes, multi-million dollar decisions on a moment to moment basis was legitimately asking me how I handled a flu without trained medical supervision. I almost (but not quite) blurted out with a laugh "you don't have to be a doctor to deal with a flu", but that was exactly it. Around here, you do. Instead I look my boss straight in the eyes and said "Nothing, I went to bed". He was shocked, eyes bugged out kind of shocked.
Suddenly those strange stories from fellow expats about doctors visits for a subtle cough made sense. Here in France people go to the doctor for everything. Seriously: EVERYTHING. The concept didn't even seem feasible to me as it dawned on me. Yet before that impossibility had it's due time in the batter's box the next, and far more gratifying idea stepped up to the plate. Suddenly in my bosses eyes I became some sort of rugged, mountain-man type Canadian. Cold? Flu? Fever? I laugh at these things (and by laugh I mean retreat to my bed like a sniffly five year old, but i strangely omitted that part during my recollection to the boss).
It was a pretty gratifying question when all was said and done. Who knew that catching a nasty flu could bolster ones reputation around the office.
