A couple weeks ago, I put together a poll asking people if they ever fantasize about having to go into the hospital, just so they could get a break from their stressful lives.
So far, 109 people have answered the poll. Here’s what you said.
- 44% of you say you do NOT have a secret hospital fantasy.
- 37% of you say you do.
- 19% of you answered “Other” and left more details comments, which I’ve summarized below.
What are we to make of this? I don’t really know. Obviously it’s not a very scientific poll, so we can’t say a third of all working parents have a hospital fantasy. But it’s interesting (disturbing?) to know that more than of third of the people who answered the poll have this fantasy.
Of the people who answered “other,” a couple said they used to have a hospital fantasy, but don’t have them now, and a couple said they’d never thought about it before, but it sounded quite nice. Several said no, but only because they hate hospitals or have crappy insurance:
I would never have a hospital fantasy no matter how bad things got!
No way, I work in a hospital and bad things happen there.
I love the idea of a break but NOT at a hospital. No way.
Yes! I had one for years (until I started working in a hospital)!
Yes, but because my insurance sucks, I’d have to pay a ton of money.
A lot of people who answered “other” had alternative fantasies:
I have a “sick day” fantasy.
I just want to have the flu for a week or so.
No but I often hope for a minor catastrophe (flat tire) to miss work.
Sometimes I wish for a migraine so I can take my meds and sleep for a day.
No, but I do LOVE long dental procedures now! I find the drilling very relaxing!
No, I’d rather go to a spa or hotel; hospital stays are exhausting.
I’m scared of surgery. But perhaps a nice stay at a mental wellness place?
I wish for long appointments.
And one person said “no, not that lazy.” I’m not sure what that means.
OK, everyone who answered yes, or had an alternative fantasy…It’s time to run a hot bath, have a cup of tea, maybe plan on calling in sick Monday.
You can still vote in the poll here. Be sure to check out the comments below the poll. Good stuff.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t have the hospital fantasy because I work for myself and don’t know who would do my work for me if I left. But I brought this up to a group of my friends. One friend who does not have any children but is a manager for a non-profit and works a ton said that she has the fantasy. I think it’s interesting that, even without the extra stress of children, working people in this country (or at least one) fantasize about going to the hospital. I’d like to see a poll of how common this is among all workers.
This wasn’t one of my fantasy but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed a small medical procedure I had to go through recently. I was in a hospital bed for hours, reading a good novel while waiting for the surgeon to be ready (he was really late for some reason). After the minor surgery, I took a giant nap in my comfy hospital bed. Then my husband drove me home. A neighbor had taken care of picking up the kids from school and entertaining them. My husband even felt compelled to be in charge of supper and homework, which he almost never does. A very relaxing day indeed. Bonus: since I currently live in France, it barely cost me anything. Score!
I don’t have a hospital fantasy, but I did find myself doing something rather pathetic: I had to travel, and I found myself dropping off the baby at daycare a littler earlier than needed (my husband did the pick up at the end of the day) so that I could have some extra quiet, alone time…. at the airport. Seriously? Who but a harried working mom would go to the airport early during the crazy holiday travel season so that she could have time and space to be “alone” and veg out and read a magazine?
I’m a working-mom-to-be and another pregnant, working friend and I were recently moaning about how tired, stressed out about about the volume of work we were still expected to do while also trying to prep for mat leave and unsupported at work we felt. My friend confessed that she had a fantasy that her baby would come 2 weeks early just so that she could walk away from work and not have to deal with it anymore – not exactly a hospital fantasy but a “something unexpected to get me away from what I’m expected to do now” fantasy. Well, guess what? Her baby did come exactly two weeks early and she was in labor on the day that she was supposed to have her major handover and HR meetings about her mat leave!
As I’ve been going through my pregnancy and reading this blog, I’ve been thinking a lot about the pressures on working-moms-to-be. Seems like most of the pregnant working women that I speak to are having a really tough time at work and feel like their employers are doing a woefully inadequate job of supporting them during their pregnancy. This is certainly the experience I’m having. In many ways I feel like I’ve had to take most of the initiative and responsibility of preparing for my mat leave – even down to writing the job description for my mat cover and organizing the interviews. I know this is off topic for this blog, but I wonder what the experiences of other working-moms-to-be have been…..
@meagan I agree. It would be interesting to see how the common this fantasy is with people who don’t have caregiver responsibilities. I would think they would just fantasize about a normal vacation…
@ Lucie That sounds divine. Oh, to have a civilized health care system…
@Yuriko I thought EVERY working parent did the “have to get to the airport early” thing.
@Stef Not off topic at all. I’d be curious to know what other working-moms-to-be have to say about this, too.
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