Owl is sick again – for the last two nights we have gotten ZERO sleep because he has coughed himself awake EVERY 15 MINUTES almost all-frigging night long.
I couldn’t take him to daycare with this cough til I got it checked out by a doctor and made sure it wasn’t the Black Death. But it was bad timing we had a big surgery booked for the morning and the boss’s daughter was moving so she wasn’t supposed to come in until later. Not to mention that it would be nightmarish to leave her trying to assist a major surgery while phones rang, orders arrived, and people came in to buy food and get prescription refills.
PH is in an important phase at work, training his employees to do his job before he is shifted to another office, so he couldn’t miss work.
So I was faced with the options of:
a) Calling in “sick” and leaving everyone in the lurch.
b) Hauling Owl in with me, admitting the surgery patient, and then manning the phones while the surgery went on.
I chose B.
Question 1:
When Mean Vet blew in ten minutes late, what do you think happened:
Question 2:
What do you think I/he should have done?
If By Yes 
You only do what you can. And obviously your employer could care less about any sacrifices you make either way.
I hate that this is the reality for so many of us. I haven’t worked a full week since August!!! There is always something and I’m always the one who must cover it and it just never seems to end. I feel like I put so much in and yet always come up short. And I have a nice boss!
As you know, my solution is getting out all together of the work/home conflict. I don’t love my solution but I’m driving myself nuts as it is. Sounds like you are, too. I hope you can find something that works for you. If not, you can complain to me any time you like.
Keep in mind, too, that Cranky Vet isn’t even my employer. He’s technically my coworker/supervisor.
Let’s all just stay home and eat bon bons.
Essay question on a pop quiz? No fair!
But seriously, I don’t see that you had much choice. I think you did the right thing and I’m glad cranky vet is leaving.
Thanks for the validation!
I think it’s telling that your boss doesn’t seem to be trying very hard to keep Cranky Vet from leaving. And didn’t you say they were old friends? Maybe everyone is as frustrated with him as you are. Maybe you are secretly their hero. Maybe they will throw you a party after he leaves…
You need a countdown chain. I’m getting ready to make one…
Nah, I’ll get a pity party, if anything. I can tell from the way the boss talks to me that I’m the whiny little wimp!
Abusive tirade, right? Oh well, if you think about Karma – BOY is he going to have it come back and bite him in the ass! Always something you could look forward to. :]
Hope Owl is better soon. I was ill when I had a few days off a month ago now and I still (!!!) have a bit of a cough. Can’t talk for very long, because it just sets it off. Really annoying. 😦 Hope you guys are doing better!
You got it in one!
I pity this guy – I think he has anxiety issues himself because he said at least twice during the fifteen-minute tirade “I’m going to have a heart attack or something”. But I can’t sympathize with the anger. I never take my anxiety out on people that way.
Until I started reading your blog, I had no idea how stressful a vet clinic could be! You really love helping animals, I can tell, and it must be a fulfilling job. I’ve burned through all of my “parental” days off in the first month of daycare, so I know the dilemma you were in. However, I find that very few people appreciate the sacrifices a mom makes whenever she has to choose between work and baby. I guess they make it an easier choice for you next time, right?
I guess so!
Tough choice… but I probably would have taken Option A followed by going back to bed. The rationalization being that 1) in BC you get 5 ‘family responsibility’ days a year to use, and 2) it’s management’s job to hire more people if the office is understaffed, which it is. I admire your patience with these people, but they seem to be imposing a lot on that patience. Anyway, hope Owl is feeling better soon!
They really, really, really, need to hire someone else. I know they’re having trouble finding suitable candidates but… *zzzzzzzzz*
Gah. Good thing the Crankster is leaving
I seriously would have walked out that day, otherwise.
I just can’t believe how horrible this man is. May he find some reason to leave unexpectedly early e.g. tomorrow.
Dot
I wish. Instead, the next day when I asked him if he could hand me a muzzle for dog who had already bitten me once, he told me that it wasn’t his problem and that I should muzzle the dog myself if I wanted to protect myself.
I think you did the right thing too! Cranky Vet deserves to be spat upon from above by a really sick and angry god. It’s not like you work in a posh and swanky restaurant in the middle of Paris with low music and cramped dining conditions. You work in a vet office and I’m sure there is the occasional child that wanders into the waiting room with their parents and beloved pet every once in a while. If you were going to try to take Owl in with you to do surgery I think I would’ve thought you a little loopy from lack of sleep and thought that perhaps Cranky Vet’s rantings were then a little more valid (I said a LITTLE), as we all know you don’t bring a sick toddler into sterile operation conditions. However, this was not the case and you did the best you could in a tough situation. I hope you tell this man where to go on his last day.
Quite honestly, as much as I may gripe about working for the company that I do, I have to admit they’ve been really accommodating when it’s come to my life as a mother. It probably helps that I’m in an all female-work environment and that my direct boss is a mother herself (a single one at that). I’ve never encountered an issue where they questioned me about not being able to come to work because Kylie’s sick, or asking for shift changes because of Christmas pageants or half-days, what have you. I even brought her into work one afternoon when school was cancelled in the middle of my shift and she was happily entertained by the rest of the staff. More work places need to be more accommodating to working parents like mine is. It’s ridiculous to think that you’re only ever going to get a work force who a) never get’s sick and who b) will never have children.
I agree! I can’t believe how unaccomodating they are. This guy has kids, too, so he should understand.
He may have kids, but I highly doubt he’s very involved with them, making me wonder if he actually knows how much TIME and EFFORT it takes to rear one. This man just makes me sick. Is he the one who made that tasteless comment a few weeks ago??
The daycare comment? No that was an aberration from my otherwise very sweet boss.
I didn’t fully appreciate the boss I had when I first became a mom. I mean, I knew he was very accommodating – he was – but I don’t think I ever thanked him for his consideration.
I feel like I owe him a card, or something.
You were lucky! Then again, maybe Nova Scotia is more family friendly in general… lots of breeders out there.
I am in the early years of business ownership and I only have one (male) employee (who also doubles as my little brother). I don’t have children yet, but I plan to start trying soon.
This post really struck me because, when I first started reading what a jam you were in and putting your office in, I just thought to myself, “Oh well, management will have to help out today”. I didn’t even consider you would pack up Owl and try your hardest to make the situation bearable. I applaud your selflessness. I mean, WOW, I would love to someday have employees like you. I wouldn’t mind at all if an employee brought their ill baby in for a few hours to help us from being in a bind! Reading your blog, and the blog of other mommies, sure does make me realize the importance of being family friendly.
I think he should have gone on a 15 minute tirade berating former employees who DIDN’T care as much as you, followed by giving you a gratuitous hug (okay, I know the hug thing made you throw up in your mouth a little, but you know what I mean). But I guess that’s just me. Hang in there. You went above and beyond for them. Shame on him.
PS: If you ever move to Florida and want a job in Real Estate, hit me up 😉
Thank you, that is SO VALIDATING!
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