(no subject)
So, I took my doctor's restriction notice to work yesterday. For the record, it forbade me from prolonged standing, bending or lifting more than five pounds. Since my entire job consists of standing, walking, bending and lifting, the note should have said, "stay home". But the doctor didn't know any better and sent me to work, believing I could be on light duty.
So, the postmaster, shop steward and I argued for fifteen minutes straight over what I could possibly do since the note wasn't ordering me to stay home. Both were prepared to send me home anyway, until the postmaster noticed that Carrier12 had failed to show again. She "asked" me to case my route and we're still under orders to take out all mail.
So I stood there for four hours casing mail until I was ordered to go out with the new guy and show him the ropes. Ostensibly, this meant I would be sitting in the back of a two-seat mail truck. Of course, after loading the truck, getting into the back requires all but crawling to reach the seat. And there's no working belt, which meant bracing myself with my legs. And the new go was slow as molasses. When I called back to report he would need assistance, I reached a lowly mail handler. Another hour later, I reached the supervisor who told me most carriers wouldn't be back until 6:30pm so no help was available and we needed to be back by then. He was careful not to order me to help the new guy, but there was no way he would make that time without me carrying mail. So I carried mail on a walking route and got off work stoned to the gills, after 9:45hrs with no lunch or breaks.
I was a bit angry, since that situation was exactly what I had described to my rheumatologist when I explained the problem with being sent back to work on "light duty" by other doctors. There is no light version of mail delivery. None. Being sent back on light duty is identical to being told to work through the injury/illness/pneumonia. I'll bet some of you guys even remember the year that last one happened.
I have over 500hrs of sick leave. I'm sick and tired of doctors acting like I'll lose my job if they send me home to rest rather than telling me to get some rest and send me straight back to work. What. The. Fuck.
So I called in sick this morning and the postmaster didn't make a peep of protest or sound the least surprised. She just murmured, "I hope you get better soon." I wrote up a job description for my doctors, a report about yesterday and then went to the library to print them out being some douche at home uses up ink but never replaces the cartridges. Then I went to the rheumatologist's office and dropped off the papers, including an FMLA packet because I qualify.
Then it was off to the pet store to buy cat food, to trader joe's to pick up sundries, to wegmans for groceries and back to sam's for gas. I was careful the entire time not to consider anything Keith would want. :) When I got home, my neighbors helped me haul everything inside and I trimmed their cat's claws. Then we went out for dinner at Longhorn and they insisted on treating me. The other wife and I discussed the situation.
So, the postmaster, shop steward and I argued for fifteen minutes straight over what I could possibly do since the note wasn't ordering me to stay home. Both were prepared to send me home anyway, until the postmaster noticed that Carrier12 had failed to show again. She "asked" me to case my route and we're still under orders to take out all mail.
So I stood there for four hours casing mail until I was ordered to go out with the new guy and show him the ropes. Ostensibly, this meant I would be sitting in the back of a two-seat mail truck. Of course, after loading the truck, getting into the back requires all but crawling to reach the seat. And there's no working belt, which meant bracing myself with my legs. And the new go was slow as molasses. When I called back to report he would need assistance, I reached a lowly mail handler. Another hour later, I reached the supervisor who told me most carriers wouldn't be back until 6:30pm so no help was available and we needed to be back by then. He was careful not to order me to help the new guy, but there was no way he would make that time without me carrying mail. So I carried mail on a walking route and got off work stoned to the gills, after 9:45hrs with no lunch or breaks.
I was a bit angry, since that situation was exactly what I had described to my rheumatologist when I explained the problem with being sent back to work on "light duty" by other doctors. There is no light version of mail delivery. None. Being sent back on light duty is identical to being told to work through the injury/illness/pneumonia. I'll bet some of you guys even remember the year that last one happened.
I have over 500hrs of sick leave. I'm sick and tired of doctors acting like I'll lose my job if they send me home to rest rather than telling me to get some rest and send me straight back to work. What. The. Fuck.
So I called in sick this morning and the postmaster didn't make a peep of protest or sound the least surprised. She just murmured, "I hope you get better soon." I wrote up a job description for my doctors, a report about yesterday and then went to the library to print them out being some douche at home uses up ink but never replaces the cartridges. Then I went to the rheumatologist's office and dropped off the papers, including an FMLA packet because I qualify.
Then it was off to the pet store to buy cat food, to trader joe's to pick up sundries, to wegmans for groceries and back to sam's for gas. I was careful the entire time not to consider anything Keith would want. :) When I got home, my neighbors helped me haul everything inside and I trimmed their cat's claws. Then we went out for dinner at Longhorn and they insisted on treating me. The other wife and I discussed the situation.