A good friend of mine and I just got over the stomach flu. We were talking the other day and she said that they most annoying thing was how the women at work reacted to the news of her throwing up. They all wanted to know if she was pregnant.
Since the day I got married (and don’t get me started on how that made it magically acceptable), I’ve had people, men and women, asking me if I’m pregnant anytime I say that my stomach is bothering me. I haven’t heard the “Oh my God, what if you’re pregnant!?!” line this much since we were teenagers. Insert overly excited adult instead of totally horrified teenager.
Sometimes I just want to say, “Yeah. I’m pregnant and have been waiting for this moment to tell you, woman-that- I-say-‘Hello’-to-at-the-copier. The stomach flu excuse is just a ruse for all of my close friends and family not to find out yet.” It’s as if they think that my telling anyone that I threw up or my stomach hurts is really an invitation to ask me about my personal life decisions and not an explanation for missing work.
Just the other day, I made the mistake of telling a coworker that my stomach hurt. She pipes right up with her groundbreaking pregnancy theory. I informed her that it was probably more from my lack of gallbladder but she continued to insist that since I had never been pregnant before I wouldn’t know. Huh? I haven’t had a gallbladder since 2002; I’m pretty sure I know what that pain feels like.
Then there is my friend, who has already had a baby, and pointed out that she already knows what it is like to be pregnant. That didn’t stop her coworkers from pursuing the idea that she was pregnant again. Do they really think that she is just waiting for them to ask so that she can tell them?
I guess I’m still not over the invasion of privacy that comes with being pregnant. Why do any of these people think that it is any of their business? If I’m pregnant and you are an important person in my life, I will tell you, not just shout it out at the copier because you asked. And if you are a random person, I guess my stomach or maturity leave will have to give it away.
I have to go now. My stomach is bothering me. And please don’t ask.
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