Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[Diane AKA Traska]

Because I'm an idiot.  When the office manager phoned me (after 5 PM) and asked why I hadn't answered the earlier call, I told her.  My boss's response:  "Voting is not that important."

Are you sure you're the idiot?

[BabyMama]

*I'm not going to be in the office today because I rescued a squirrel. (wish I was kidding.)

I actually did pull over one morning and rescue a baby skunk that was wandering in traffic and I had to miss work for half the day while I located a rescue center that would accept wildlife. I am not someone who can drive past an animal in peril and keep going because I 'can't be late for work.' I did bring in pictures to verify that I truly had caught a baby skunk-- but yes, my supervisor was annoyed with me. I don't think that's very fair. I feel like saving an animal's life is a valid reason to be late, and my attendance was normally exemplary.

I think the problem is that normally unusual excuses seem more and more unbelievable when stacked on top of each other.  I know my X is highly creative and I almost feel bad for being mad at him sometimes when a real problem happens, but it can be so difficult to sort the real and made up when people abuse it.

Yes, I'd find that believable if you didn't have a past history of ridiculous excuses. That's how we felt when she said her house was tilting. At the time we were like, "Wow, that sucks." But that was the first of a long line of "Guess what happened to me this week" excuses that just continue to grow. It's gotten to be sort of an office joke now, I doubt we'd believe anything she said even if it really did happen. We always wonder, too, if she realizes how ridiculous her stories sound and how much better "I'm sorry, I haven't had time to get to it today but will work on it tomorrow" would look.

[zyrs]

At a job I used to work at, I lived about an hours drive and in another thermal zone from work.  One night, we had a huge snowstorm where I lived and I had to call in the next day because there was 24" of snow on the ground, they hadn't plowed and I drove a Vega, so the car was halfway buried.

I spent the day clearing out the driveway so I could make it to work the next day.  They plowed that afternoon and I was good to go.  I left super early the next day so I could make it on time.  Driving along, there was lots of snow then about 30 minutes into the drive it was clear, no snow on the ground at all.  The area I lived in had been hit with a pocket blizzard.

It did not snow at all at work.  I got written up.

[Suze]

man zyrs -- that bites

we had a woman once that LIVED ACROSS THE STREET from the factory (this is important)

she called in one morning because she "couldn't get out her door because it was snowed shut" 

HUH?

there was a little snow on the ground but maybe an inch or so.

so the dutiful - helpful - co-workers that we are went over there on our lunch break and piled a bunch of snow aginst the door (maybe a couple of shoeboxes full -- not that much)

our boss saw us and started directing where there was some more snow we could use........

boy did she get a talking to the next day

[Diane AKA Traska]

That's as stupid as calling in sick and then being written up because "Well, *I* wasn't sick, so you should have been here!"

[Jocelyn]

Not to threadjack, but I'm always surprised that anyone feels they have to hide when they've taken off sick time.  Sick time is a benefit that you get, often in lieu of larger pay or something else.    

However, it's a benefit you get on one condition: YOU ARE SICK. It's not supposed to be used as an addentum to one's vacation pay. You can't just call up and say, 'I believe I'll take a sick day today and go shopping'; no, you must at least claim that your health prevents you from coming to work (or the health of your dependent for whom you are providing care).

So, having told my boss that I'm too ill to come to work, it strikes me as disrespectful for me to be making a statement, by my behavior, that I'm well enough to be engaging in leisure activities. I just don't think there's such a thing as 'too ill for work, but not too ill for having fun'.

[Bibliophile]

Not to threadjack, but I'm always surprised that anyone feels they have to hide when they've taken off sick time.  Sick time is a benefit that you get, often in lieu of larger pay or something else.    

However, it's a benefit you get on one condition: YOU ARE SICK. It's not supposed to be used as an addentum to one's vacation pay. You can't just call up and say, 'I believe I'll take a sick day today and go shopping'; no, you must at least claim that your health prevents you from coming to work (or the health of your dependent for whom you are providing care).

So, having told my boss that I'm too ill to come to work, it strikes me as disrespectful for me to be making a statement, by my behavior, that I'm well enough to be engaging in leisure activities. I just don't think there's such a thing as 'too ill for work, but not too ill for having fun'.

Depends on what the "fun" is.  I might be too sick to concentrate on my work but I'm not too sick to go to Blockbuster & pick up a DVD and to the grocery store to get supplies.  

Also, it all depends on where you work and their policies.  If you work somewhere that is strict about this stuff, then you don't do it.  If your work really doesn't care what you use a sick day for then it's not rude & unless you're familiar with someone's situation, you really can't pass judgement on what is appropriate for his/her workplace.

[nutraxfornerves]

I worked for an employer where most staff had a union contract that allowed use of sick leave if a family member was ill. I approved sick leave for an employee whose wife was having major surgery.

A bean counter in the personnel office rejected it because the union contract had formal language something like "the employee's attendance is required upon the ill or injured family member." The wife was in the hospital and since they were caring for her, the husband's attendance was not needed. Why, of course. Just being there & holding her hand does will not contribute to her recovery. And a man who is frantic with worry about his wife is always a useful and productive employee.

I managed to win the fight, but thereafter, I had to caution staff never to mention that an ill family member was in the hospital.

[exitzero]

Many years ago, I worked in an office where we hired a new woman to start on a Monday.

Monday she called in, said her grandmother had died and she needed the day off. We sympathized, and told her not to worry.

Tuesday she called and said her car wouldn't start. OOOOOK, these things happen, we'll see you tomorrow.

Wednesday she called in and said that she had no electricity and couldn't blow dry her hair. (This was mid summer, too.).

She was told to be in by 11 AM, or don't bother showing up at all. Never heard from her again.

[Nannerdoman]

Because I'm an idiot.  When the office manager phoned me (after 5 PM) and asked why I hadn't answered the earlier call, I told her.  My boss's response:  "Voting is not that important."

Are you sure you're the idiot?

Well, I was an idiot for being honest.  But Boss, although a brilliant person with an IQ the height of Everest, had the emotional intelligence of a doorknob and an ego that required its own Zip code.

[Sterling]

Stuff like what is posted here is why I love my University job.  We have sick leave and vacation leave.  We can use sick leave for medical appointments such as check ups and things that are scheduled far in advance.  My supervisor let me use an entire day for 2 dr appointments and my "mental health" since it had been a hard semester.

I can also post on Facebook while sick and noone says a thing.  Now my supervisor is not a "friend" but others in the office are.  In fact I was sent home for a sick day due to insomnia once.  I had huge rings and bags under my eyes and my boss insisted I go home and try to get some sleep.

[Ceallach]

This thread also makes me really grateful! If I need to go to a Drs appt I just go. Once when I let boss know she said "you know you don't have to check with me, right?" I pointed out that she might wonder where I was if I was gone for an hour!   We can also choose to work from home if sick instead of using leave. You know how sometimes it's the getting dressed and commuting that seems way too hard? But writing reports and answering emails in bed is bearable. 

That kind of nice, flexibility just makes the ppl who do abuse it even worse though.

Such as the dating couple who send out emails saying "not feeling well, working from home today" 5 minutes apart. Would that be each at your respective homes, or was a sleepover involved?

 

[siamesecat2965]

This thread also makes me really grateful! If I need to go to a Drs appt I just go. Once when I let boss know she said "you know you don't have to check with me, right?" I pointed out that she might wonder where I was if I was gone for an hour!   We can also choose to work from home if sick instead of using leave. You know how sometimes it's the getting dressed and commuting that seems way too hard? But writing reports and answering emails in bed is bearable. 

That kind of nice, flexibility just makes the ppl who do abuse it even worse though.

Such as the d@ting couple who send out emails saying "not feeling well, working from home today" 5 minutes apart. Would that be each at your respective homes, or was a sleepover involved?

Me too.  My job and my bosses are very flexible.  And in turn, I try to be as well.  If I can schedule a dr. appt either first thing in the morning, or last appt of the day, I am able to eithr come in late, or leave a bit early - as long as they know.  And if the weathre is nasty, I can work from home, with no problem...

The best was when my dad was sick; and came home after a month in the hospital for back surgery due to cancer, and rehab.  I went for a week, and they let me work from home part of the time, as I was running low on vacation - and I was able to give my mom a break and take my dad to his radiation treatments and run errands for her, and so on.  I was very grateful for that, esp since he passed away about 2 months later, and that allowed me to spend time with him  - which I might not have been able to working elsewhere.

[zyrs]

Suze;

That story is great!  I would have helped with some more snow as well.

[ginlyn32]

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