Da Count-Da Team

I've said it before, I'm saying it again.  I work with some really amazing people.  I've recently gotten over a truly hideous flare up with my lower back.  During the worst of it I could not drive because we have a stick shift and it was making things worse to work the clutch.  One of the girls in the office was kind enough to give me rides to work.  Another one was sweet enough to come out of her way to take me in on our time off so I could get the treatment I needed to get better.  

Business has been slow...increasingly slow...for way too long.  The boss has been sending two different people home early whenever he thinks we can manage with reduced staff.  It's been happening more and more.  I volunteered to be put in the rotation for that so it wasn't always the same two people taking the hit to the paycheck and I figured I could manage loosing the kind of time I saw the two of them losing and if we spread it around they'd lose less.

This week the boss told us very reluctantly at the weekly staff meeting that he was not only taking hours away from each of us, he was going to take away entire days.  It has gotten that bad.  We all knew it was bad but none of us thought it had come to that.  We were also all concerned about one coworker in particular because she and her husband are already on the edge economically due to his long-term unemployment.  As shocked as we all were by our own reduced hours (and they were significant, I lost between a third and half my hours) most of us were more deeply concerned about her (well, and the owners, of course, because they are good and decent people who give excellent care and if they go under we are all SOL).  I was sent home immediately that day but found out when I came in to work next that one of the other girls who also lost two days gave up a third to the coworker who we were all so worried about.

I am just continually humbled by the kindness and decency of some people I am privileged to know.  I am grateful to be part of such a team of people and certainly hope this will be a temporary situation so we can all get back to doing our jobs well...together.

Da Count in Friday 55-Looking Out for Each Other

FRIDAY 55

 I trudge into the house at the end of a long day.

The house is a mess.

I shuffle through the pile of mail in the foyer.

Junk...

important...

junk...

junk...

Ooohh, a letter...

from my stepmother.

I open it to find

 encouragement,

 affirmation,

 an explanation, 

an unexpected gift she says is not a loan.

DA COUNT

 

It's been a long week, not a bad one, just a long one.  On Wednesday morning at work a patient came in and asked who had the purplish van out in the parking lot.  I let him know it was mine.  He told me I should go check it because it looked like the left rear tire was loosing air.  Once the patient flow slowed down a bit I checked it and sure enough it was flat as could be.  I was really glad to know that early enough in the day to get a hold of Mr. Lime so he could take care of it when he had time during the day and I didn't walk out to an unpleasant surprise at the end of the night when I was exhausted and the tire shops were closed.  That patient saved me a huge inconvenience and headache.

Thursday night I came home tired and rather frustrated by certain things I won't go into here.  I came inside and saw the day's mail sitting in a pile.  I went through it and sighed in some relief not to see any bills.  Then I noticed a personal item from my stepmother.  Personal letters and cards put a smile on my face just because they are...well...personal.  Inside was a funny card with a surprise.  When I opened the card a check slid out onto my lap and I saw a long note inside.  I read the note explaining how my stepmother was aware all three of her kids were having significant cash flow issues and how one of her aunts had been a help to her when she most needed it and without asking.  My stepmother decided (and was clear to state it was HER decision about HER money in spite of knowing my dad is going to be less than thrilled) it was time for her to send some help to each of her three kids.  The note alone had raised a lump in my throat simply because I am so blessed as to have a stepmother who considers me as much her own child as she does the son she gave birth to.  I finally opened the check that was in my lap and was dumbstruck by her level of generosity and that it was given with absolutely no strings attached.