In the USAF we called it a TS (Tough $h!t) card...If you had a sad story you took it to the Chaplain and he'd punch your TS card then send your whiny ass back to work...In WWII the Navy issued you a Sympathy Chit as shown below......Ben
The future is forged on the anvil of history...The interpreter of history wields the hammer... - Unknown author...
In the mid 1990s, I worked for a great Division manager.. it was a Bell Labs Beta test, field trial, team..
He addressed all 200 of his troups at a huge dinner at a New Jersey hotel.. he stood at the podium and told us if we were looking for sympathy it was in the dictionary, between $h!t and syphilis.. no one reported him for his technically unacceptable speech..