It’s rare for me to get sick, or at least sick enough to call in to work to say I’m staying home. The last time it happened was during the pandemic when COVID finally caught up to me. And I can ‘easily’ deal with a head cold, but when I recently contracted viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu), I got knocked down for the count. Despite what I thought I knew, despite what I expected of myself, I had to acquiesce to it.

The day started like any other, wit...