Originally Posted by gspsplease

I hated school at age 8-9 so was very good at faking illness to stay home (both my parents worked) and watch the mid-day movie. I would put a finger down my throat to vomit, rub a thermometer on the sheet to raise the temperature, rub talcum powder on my face so I looked pale etc. After a genuine bout of flu I wasn't looking forward to returning to school, so started late at night saying that I had a stomache ache. Eventually my parents called our doctor, who said I had appendicitis and raced me off to hospital, where I was operated on the next day. I never said a word about it being a great con (since I was happy about a few weeks off school) and 50 years later neither of my parents know the truth!