IT SUCKS TO BE SICK

I arrive at work like I normally do around 10 past 7 am, contractors aren't allowed to park in the plant lot. You gotta park in the neighborhood behind the plant. So I have at least a block walk to the back door of the electrical plant, which is really kind of demeaning if you think about it too much. Today I walked that block in the rain, a COLD fucking rain. My journeyman is almost always there when I walk in, and he always has a cuppacoffee, and he always says "whats up Robbo"? I like that, because one of my buddies at hines called me robbo, well, El robbo. But you get my drift. This morning there was no cuppa and no "whats up Robbo"? My journeyman was lookin' a little punk. Turns out he was more than a little punk. He was sick, as in things flying out of your ass every two minutes sick. There were no tacos at morning break...it was sprite. He was useless. I wired up the ceiling lights solo (cool) and he laid low. Finally, the nausea got the best of him and he went home, dropping me off with the foreman. He tried to rally, I could see him willing himself to ruck up and be there, but he just couldn't do it.
And it was then that I realized that these months together have been more than just an experienced journeyman putting up with an IJ like me, he trusts me to wire in lights without blowing shit up. He teaches and I learn ( we had another apprentice with us the other day who has been there almost as long as I have and it was litmus that I am head and shoulders ahead of the game because of what my journeyman has taught me, and I've been able to learn). Our conversation has moved beyond the day to day bullshit of the job steadily. Dare I say it? Do I risk the jinx? My journeyman has become my friend and coworker. If we had met at a bar or a party, we would have shared the beers and walked away none the wiser, but in these six or so months we have discovered that we are not so different. Sure, he's a 40 year old redneck and I'm a 45 year old mix of redneck/hippy/punk, but we have struck a balance. My social work background and some of the comments I make because of it still make him raise an eyebrow on occasion, but by and large I think we are a team.
I encouraged him to go home, and he did, because it sucks to be sick. And it's good to have someone watching your back.
I just hope I don't wake up with it tomorrow...Bastard:).