I had colitis a couple of years ago. I had to be hospitalized for a week. When I returned to classes, my lovely students were both concerned and keen on delaying the start of class and so they asked me "why were you out?" I responded without thought that I had colitis.
Everyone got quiet and a student asked "what is that?" to which another student hissed "-itis means an infection and so colitis is..."
They trailed off, student number one "got it" and no more talk of my colon distracted my class.
It occurred to me afterward that I had committed a social faux pas in this conversation. I guess I should have said "It was personal" or something. My poo should not be a topic of conversation in class.
But why not? I am not saying that I particularly want to discuss this with my class, but I was in pain! I had a hellish week and I wanted them to know that I was really sick and that they should cut me some slack. Should I have lied?
This is not the only pain which has to be hidden. In my relatively charmed life, I have often had to say "nothing" when someone asked me what was wrong, when in fact I was in pain. This pains in question range from a miscarriage to a UTI to a really bad itch in a certain place.
How come I have to miss a meeting with a man, giving the lame excuse of "Not feeling well" or the correct excuse of "feminine problems" (which, let's face it translates to "I didn't feel like it" due to overuse) when what is really going on is that I am suffering from hormonal attacks and anemia due to the fact that my uterus lining is shedding off and my stomach feels exactly the way you would expect internal bleeding to feel.
It is not fair that a stomach ache due to food poisoning gets sympathy, but constipation is a secret pain that you must suffer alone. Why is the line drawn at our underwear. Anything in that area is off limits. Mastitis was covered by my bra, so I was not supposed to tell anyone why I was feverish and loopy. An eye infection can be shouted from the roof tops. Singers cancel tours with public declarations of throat infections. If the line is grossness, then I think throats win out over breasts.
The line is definitely underwear.
Topic for a poll: Foot problems are as debatable as the question of whether socks are underwear. Do you think socks count as underwear? Would you be offended to hear that someone was suffering from an ingrown toe nail?
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