Mortified is such a good word to describe Thursday. I was really mortified.

Picture this. My parents are in town because we saw a play the night before. They stayed at my place on Wednesday night, and before heading back home they want to stop by my office and check out my new place of employment.

Picture this. On Wednesday my throat started tingling in the morning, itching in the afternoon, and scraping by the time the curtain fell. As we walked back to the parking lot, I started shivering like crazy, my teeth chattering wildly. My head spun and I couldn't follow the thread of my parents' conversation.

Picture this. At my job on Thursday, before my parents arrive, I feel myself getting sicker and sicker. After a few hours, my shivering gets the best of me. I put on my winter jacket, borrow a space heater from another employee, and call maintenance to ask them to turn the heat up in our wing of the building. When my boss walks in around 2 PM, she gives me one look and says, "You're going home."

Picture this (and this is the tough one). My parents arrive at my office around 2:30 PM. I am still in my winter jacket and a few of my co-workers are doting on me, bringing me tea from the other building and recommending Chinese herbs to cure my illness. My parents talk to the co-workers, they talk to my parents. I sit in my swivel chair, oblivious to the world around me. Then my boss walks into the room and starts talking to my parents and my co-workers. Everyone talking about how sick I look. How I need rest. How I need to drink lots of tea, perhaps with honey and lemon. I notice my mother and my boss exchanging pleasantries before shifting concerned looks to me. And I have only been at my job for TWO WEEKS!

Needless to say, I am mortified on so many levels. First and foremost, I'm embarassed that I had to go home sick from work on my second week of employment. I almost never get sick. Why now? (Don't tell me "stress.")

Secondly, having my parents show up at my office, before my co-workers really know me that well, before they have any really glowing things to say about me, was definitely odd. They said things like, "We sure are glad to have Rusty aboard," like I just embarked on some fantasy dream-vacation cruise or something. My parents didn't really have anything to say to them (what would they say?).

Thirdly, oh yes, they did have something to say. The only thing to talk about was my sorry condition. Suddenly I had six mothers in one room, and here I'm trying to establish myself as an independent adult. I filled out my first tax form with 2 exemptions, because my parents finally can no longer claim me as a dependent. That felt great. Having Ma and Pa conspiring with my new co-workers seemed very awkward to me. I haven't had a chance to make a name for myself yet. If not now, when?