I guess he didn't have sick days, only vacation days he wanted to save for (one assumes) spending time with his family. So, a very tough position for him to be

I guess he didn't have sick days, only vacation days he wanted to save for (one assumes) spending time with his family. So, a very tough position for him to be in, and an easy one to sympathize with. But yeah, in general, it is not heroic or laudable to go to work when you're sick, which is probably why he looked back at his 20 years and said "don't be like me".