Hello everybody! I’m curious how would you respond in my case. So I work as a rafting/canyoning guide in Europe at a smaller family company. I could say that my boss is my friend, but we have a love-hate relationship, and we could say that I’m proud of my loyalty to them because sometimes it’s super hard to stand them, but they taught me most of what I know about these professions, and I also love the community and this work in general. They gave me a whole new life. But in November I had an accident, and I tore my LCP (knee ligament) and I was going around like crazy to get an operation in a relatively short time (because I really do need my knees for work) now all the medical professionals told me that I can get it back to 100% functional, but it takes about 6-9 months for an athlete (I do need to climb mountains, etc, so that was an understandable comparison for me) but it can still not heal if I do not harm it in any way during the healing process otherwise it’s fu*ked and cannot ever be back to 100%). So far I called him since November 4 times telling him about my situation (it’s a seasonal job and we are living in different countries) and asking him to find a substitute at least for the first half of the season. I was desperate to get this information into my boss’s thick head, because we are few people working there, I am the main guide, and I take around 70% of the tours. So I’m worried that they’ll go bankrupt if I’m or someone is not there. The issue is that he has this ostrich mentality where he just doesn’t believe me, and believes that it’ll heal in 2 months, and I’ll be back in work no time. (Side note: he is a football fan, and in his favorite team, someone had the same issue, and he read it in some bs site that they await this footballist back in the team in 2 months, and this logic makes me super angry).
Right now I’m in the hospital after the surgery, and I got angry again after his get well message that good luck, and he countdown for 3(!) months has started.
After 8 years I’m lucky to say that because of my professionalism I “have a name” in the valley where we work, and I’m 100% sure that I could find easily another company which would gladly take me. But it’s hard to find a guide. Which is also good for me. So tldr.: I don’t want my original company to go down, my boss is my friend, but my health is way more important than any business. What’s your opinion, what and how would u communicate this?
Thanks for reading