Animals by Frank O’Hara

Already finishing up my third week at work. Feel pretty comfortable in my job & duties but still haven’t actually met everyone in the office yet or had much interaction with co-workers outside the three in my department. It’s been difficult fighting this cold or whatever it is I’ve had since Tuesday afternoon. My throat is still so sore. I have a pretty high threshold for pain, but it’s been bad. I have to talk all day long at work. And while I do work in a medical office I don’t have any sort of relationship with any of the providers yet, so I don’t feel comfortable asking for a quick evaluation. They have a rule about employees not being patients of the doctor’s in the office, at least as primary care physicians, it’s okay to be seen for acute issues like this. But I’m not on my company insurance yet and have no idea if they charge employees for visits. Some places I’ve worked at before have charged you at a discounted rate and others have waived all fees before. I’ve only been paid for the first week of work and don’t get paid again until the 15th, so I can’t afford a doctor’s visit and a prescription medication if one is required. Already spent a lot on OTC meds battling this. Just hope I can tough it out or start getting better. Still have another day of work tomorrow and three performances of a USO-themed musical revue show that I am emceeing. Then Sunday evening I’m shutting my trap and not saying a word until 8:00 AM Monday morning when I have to.