Is Honesty the Best Policy?

So i had a slight dilemma over the past

couple of days having an issue of honesty.

I dont want to go into too much detail,

but basically my boyfriend is flying out to visit me for my birthday next week.

We have a few days holiday coming up and i've booked a holiday away at the beach with him.

Which i was planning to extend by calling in sick for an extra 2 days .

And then three days ago work put an 'optional' folk dancing

performance on my day off/birthday.

When i say optional,

i mean it is not mandatory,

but for some people (ie me, the suckers) it is.

And a performance means that if i call in sick,

i will be leaving people with an extra work load trying to cover for me.

I've been on the end of that a lot, and its just not fun.

I tried to skip out of the rehearsal....

but couldnt do it.

i was racked with guilt.

I was racked with the responsibility

towards my leaders and my fellow dancers.

So i apologised for skipping the rehearsal but also

at the same time adamantly told them i would not do the 'optional' performance.

I told the truth and said that my boyfriend who i get to see

for a few days every six months is coming to visit and

i do not want to work on my day off.

I have given them plenty of notice please cast it with someone else

as there are plenty of people going spare.

Needless to say this got me into a lot of trouble.

But what makes me mad is that here,

people take time off all the time, they call in sick,

they just dont turn up,

they dont come to rehearsals but turn up for performances....

in general a lot of bad attiutude.

I have never once taken a day off or missed

any rehearsal since i have been here,

and i am fed up of carrying everyone else's load.

The problem is that i didn't play by their rules or system.

I was told that if i had just kept on skipping rehearsal there

would have been no problem,

if i just came to some of the rehearsals but turned up for

performance then there wouldnt be a problem.

i disagree.

I prefer that people are upfront and honest in their dealings.

I was told that i was a foreigner and different standards were expected of me,

(ie its okay for the egyptians to choose when and they want to work, but not for me)

I disagree, i think that it should be the same rules for everyone.

So i was adamant,

and i have been threatened that there will be repercussions.

And i came home and i was upset,

and was thinking if i was wrong?

Should i have just sneaked around?

Should i follow suit?

Should i just be the general dogsbody that i normally am?

And although i'm still going to have to call in sick

for that extra day that i'm going to take,

in that i know that yes, in that i am not right.

But at the same time now my 'sick leave' will not

leave other people in the lurch.

And i was reminded by my Gentleman Caller,

that i had made a decision to be upfront and honest

about my reasons for not doing the performance

because i didnt like the way just sneaking out of it felt.

So i guess whatever repercussions come my way

my conscience in that is clear.