We’re proud to know that many LI readers walked to school uphill in the snow, both ways, and they liked it, same as we did when we were kids.

OK, we can be accused of hyperbole (just ask any teenager we’ve had to deal with in the past 10 years) about how we tough it out as much as anyone, but the post this week on faking sick, by country, generated a bunch of comments that had two dominant themes.

1. I NEVER CALL IN SICK.
2. The French call in least? What? That’s because a) they are Euros who don’t work hard and that’s a bad thing or b) they are Euros who don’t work hard and that’s a good thing.

We will not join the Freedom Fries debate. We will, however, kindly remind those he-men (and women) that if your employer provides sick days and you don’t take them when you have a legitimate reason; you are, essentially, leaving money on the table. We’d also ask that you please quit coughing on us. Repeatedly.

How does it feel to be …
A post on prettier people earning more – $230,000 more over the course of a lifetime – also seemed to strike a chord with you. Including the following quizzical comment (in the interest of volume, we’ve turned off the all caps this time):

"Would you rather have lunch with Catherine Zeta Jones or Whoopi Goldberg?"

Commenter: We’d be fine with either. It’s lunch. What’s your point?

Feeling productive
There weren’t a whole lot of solutions proposed for a post on how companies are doing just fine without having to hire due to employees getting more done. There was a lot of anger from both sides of the political spectrum. Mood of the country, obviously.

Finally
Winner in the ongoing Mercer and SMITH (again with the all caps) magazine “six words about work” contest were announced. The contest rules were pretty much in the title. Come up with a six word sentence describing how you feel about work. After our schedule this week, we offer up a belated entry: “Quitting time can’t come soon enough.”