Tiny Plastic Houses

I’m sick today …

I am sick today (for the 23rd day in a row). What a day to be sick. The weather's crappy, my throat is raw and all I can think of is just how much I don't want to be here.

This is not necessarily the very worst place to work. I mean, there are cesspool repairmen and garbage handlers and manure analyzers out there, but, lately … to me … this job has started to take on some sort of Orwellian Ministry of Truth or Ministry of Plenty vibe … Shit, let's just call it the Minitrue and Miniplenty of the Greater KC Area.

Go with me on this: Here we sit, Winston Smith and I, disseminating information in half truths and quarter exaggerations for the public, while we are told that we cannot use sick time to take care of our children, nor to visit the doctor (even if we're sick), and that we can only have one late or emergency call-in per month.

This sounds reasonable, when you first say it. But when you start looking at the circumstances involved, it becomes very awkward. For instance, I have preschool twins. When one gets sick, the other follows suit, usually within 1-2 days. So, for every illness that my children bring home, that is at least 1, possibly 3 days out of work for a caregiver. Now, add to that the fact that I am permanently  (until otherwise noted) on a medication that is slightly immunosuppressant, meaning that nearly every illness my children bring home, gets passed on to me. So, by all rights, that would be another 1-2 days. Now, take into account that during flu season, my kids are sick sometimes every 1-2 weeks with some sort of vomitous ick. … That is way more than one sick day per month and every bit of it is justified.

Now, I'm the type of worker that would schedule a doctor's appointment, come to work, leave for the appointment, charge it to sick time, and then return following.

I can't even do that …

For years, I've been a good and loyal employee. I try to save my sick time for doctor's appointments and for taking care of my kids when they are sick. Last year, they handed down the judgment that we could no longer use sick time to take care of a loved one. Last month, they decided that we could no longer use sick time for a scheduled doctor's appointment. Last week, they decided that we could have only one call-in or late arrival per month, even though we are allowed to accrue up to 8 days of sick time (and then short term disability would kick in, should they deem it necessary to grant us the privilege). The verdict in most cases is unpaid suspension or permanent dismissal should you step over the marked line.

"How is this Orwellian," you ask. I ask "How is it not?"

I experience every one of these Orwellian themes every day in my current situation:

• Deprivation in that I am deprived of my ability to seek help for my ailments, even chronic ones.
• Stress in that I fear I will lose my house and my children and I will be penniless should I lose my job over something so petty.
• Constant rule making and surveillance from all the people at HQ who look down on us from their comfortable chairs behind large desks to decide what's best for us when they have no idea what's best for us!
• Slanting of facts and figures to meet a predetermined need (in order to sell product).
• Punishment if we fail to make the proper changes or fall outside their considered norm.

There is more, but I don't feel like dwelling upon it at this point in my day. Suffice it to say that a reckoning must come or I will end up on the cutting room floor along with all the other scraps … they have no idea what they'll be missing.

~H

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm. It is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.