F Cancer

I had been working at a large corporation for the last 6 years and in
February of 2011 I was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. A lot of times
people can work whilst undergoing treatment, but in my case it had
moved through my lymph nodes quickly and the tumors were so large I
was beginning to asphyxiate. (To add a little more context, I was
24.)

Long story short, I approached my District Manager at the time to see
what my options would be so that I could keep my health insurance, but
at the same time secure my job for the future when I would hopefully
have recovered. Being as I had never encountered anything this life
changing before, I didn’t understand that short term disability was
something that applied to me. My manager’s response after I told him
about my Thyroid Cancer and need for immediate treatment: (verbatim)

“That sucks, unfortunately we don’t pay you to be sick. Hopefully
you’ll get better soon. Any idea on when you’ll need to go so we can
get someone in here to fill your position?”

Needless to say he is no longer with the company.

The Company Car

I had a really important presentation to do for a potential new
client. I had everything ready to go and had given a digital copy of
the Powerpoint to my boss in case something terrible happened to me
between the end of the work day and the presentation the next morning.
The morning of my presentation I got up early. I gave myself an extra
hour to get to work, just in case. In the end Murphy’s Law reared it’s
ugly head. I was halfway to work when suddenly there was a 30 car
pile-up in front of me on the freeway. Of course it happened while I
was in the middle of the six lanes of traffic, and immediately I was
completely boxed in. Absolutely nowhere to go. I called my boss to see
if we could reschedule the client, or if he could keep him occupied
while I waited for traffic to clear. He just flipped out. Instead of
offering any solutions, he just kept freaking out. I was afraid that
not only was he going to fire me, but he may scare off the client,
which had the potential to utterly devastate our department and lead
to a whole lot of pink slips (it was a huge account, and our financial
situation necessitated landing this client). So I did the only thing I
could–I got out of my car and ran to the nearest off-ramp. I called a
cab and made it to work with 10 minutes to spare. I managed to wow the
client with my presentation, they signed the contract, and left. The
ink wasn’t even dry on the paper when the boss called me in and fired
me. He fired me! Why? The car I left on the freeway was a company car,
so I was fired for being irresponsible with company property.

Short & Sweet

I am a campanion/house cleaner for an elderly woman and her daughter.
Among the highlights of what I have been asked to do: Rake leaves in
the pouring rain, pick wet wipes out of her potty chair (because the
wipes couldn’t be flushed) and put a suppository in her dogs butt.

A Wintry Mix

I live 15 miles out of town in a rural area. The road is maintained by
the county, but because there is so little traffic out my way, in the
wintertime my road is typically the very last to be plowed when it
snows. My house sits at the end of a long driveway–about a half a
mile long. Once you get to the county road, it is 12 miles until you
hit the main road which is better maintained. We are being hit hard by
a snowstorm and the weatherman predicts it will be much worse tonight
and through tomorrow. There has been enough snow throughout the day
today that I am becoming a little bit concerned that getting home
tonight could be a problem. I have dogs and horses, so staying in town
isn’t really an option. I told my boss this morning that if the
weather predictions ring true, I may not be able to make it in
tomorrow morning. His response to me was, “If I were you, I would find
a way. If you can’t make it up your driveway, park somewhere else.” I
guess he expects me to park on the main road and walk the twelve miles
from my house in two feet of snow.