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Yesterday felt like I was going to die. I tried every “wellness” or “immunity boost” shot we had, until I was nauseous from the cure. UG. I should’ve had another day to stay home, sick. But that’s not how UPT works. When you are hired, you’re given an allotment of “unpaid time off” that counts for any absence. The problem is when “excused absences” are not allowed but just lumped in with “slept in” or “forgot my shift.” The twenty-somethings have a very different profile than I do. I’m a professional. I clock in on time. I don’t make excuses. I perform my job.
Yesterday, against every aching bone in my body, I served my eight and a half hour shift. Caffeine wouldn’t help. Only ibuprofen and juice. The shots might have provided some support, but I couldn’t feel anything but a flu-like ache through my upper back. A nausea that made it hard to eat lunch. And a smile from my manager letting me go home five minutes early. “Oh, thanks!”
I’m stuck in this limbo due to a recent corporate process that broke down. I applied for a “leave of absence” was initially denied but two hours later, told my request was being accepted. It took a full two weeks since then to receive the approval, a message that still has not arrived inside the corporate system of sticks and carrots.
So, on my internal time card, I’m still 1.4 hours away from termination. And the Team Lead who fired me returned to work as well. She didn’t apologize. Of course, there’s no reason to, yet, the time and emails have been sent from the HR firm, but they’ve yet to update my file. So, I’m stuck on the verge of being fired, for uncorrected UPT (28 hours) that was protected by a medical emergency.
Hi ho, hi ho, I went to work and limped along with tonics, hope, and two ten-minute breaks and a thirty-minute lunch. I was not a happy cashier yesterday. And today, I’ll return at about 80% capacity, still suffering, at noon.
I’ll stay on the bright side of this situation for now, while doubling down on my efforts (already doubled down) to find a new role.
See you in the checkout line today, against my better judgment.
[Listen to the Deep Dive explore the concepts of The Happy Cashier.]
The hope I see in others
becomes the hope I have for myself,
my life, and my own journey.
– The Happy Cashier
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