First real bad day at work in a long time. And it all has to do with the coronavirus.
First thing happened near the top of the day. You know how more and more states are issuing these "shelter in place" orders in order to keep people distant from each so that the virus doesn't spread? Now, "essential" services are exceptions to this, of course -- health care workers, civil servants, and grocery store workers (something I have never thought was ever "essential," but, you know, they are). Surprise, however; my boss gave both of us a letter stating that our job is also "essential."
How? Truck drivers need to pass drug tests, and apparently there are still truck drivers in this crisis. Those samples need to be tested. We don't test them. We just put in the information into our records. That's how we're essential. We are tangential to the actual work that needs to be done, and if he were honest, my boss would admit that. This letter essentially is a doctor's note telling our gym teacher we don't have to change clothes, basically. But, if Minnesota gets a "shelter in place" order, allowing the cops to stop people and ask where they're going (and there was potential for Governor Tim Walz to give that executive order this afternoon but didn't), I'm supposed to show that police officer this note and I should be on my way. That feels so elementary school.
We both asked our boss about the note, specifically how seriously we are supposed to take it. Because, and I think we implied this enough to him that he understood, if the situation in our state escalates to this, maybe it's best if we just comply and shelter in place. To which our boss says that if we wanted, we could call in sick. That'll get impractical after a while; we can't call in sick for the next six months.
So that was bad. What was worse was my boss e-mailing me, out of the blue, that I cannot use gloves anymore. I am paranoid that the virus would be living on one of the papers I work on. There are plenty, and I mean plenty. But for some goddamn reason, my job, according to him, is not allowed to use gloves.
Frankly, I'm pissed off. I am trying to protect myself from this mysterious, insidious evil. I live with parents who are at-risk. And,like I said, there are plenty of gloves around. I do not understand it, and I resent how little he seems to care about the protective measures I'm taking so that I don't bring this virus into my home.
But I don't know what to do. Well, maybe I do. I may have alluded to this before: When mentioning that I still have to appear on-site at work, one friend says I should call in sick and the other said what my workplace is doing is disrespectful.
You know, inbetween the giving of this letter and the e-mail warning me not to use gloves, I was actually defending this job. With so many people getting laid off, is my company really treating me worse for telling me to come in than other companies that have just let go of their people for, if they ever do get their jobs back, an indeterminate amount of time? (Both of my friends now work from home, and maybe I should find a job where I can do just that ... or go back to school to get enough education to find a job that'll let me work from home.) But then my boss gives me this unreasonable, ridiculous request, and I think I need to quit my job because my job is going to endanger my parents. Why am I boxed into a situation like this?
First thing happened near the top of the day. You know how more and more states are issuing these "shelter in place" orders in order to keep people distant from each so that the virus doesn't spread? Now, "essential" services are exceptions to this, of course -- health care workers, civil servants, and grocery store workers (something I have never thought was ever "essential," but, you know, they are). Surprise, however; my boss gave both of us a letter stating that our job is also "essential."
How? Truck drivers need to pass drug tests, and apparently there are still truck drivers in this crisis. Those samples need to be tested. We don't test them. We just put in the information into our records. That's how we're essential. We are tangential to the actual work that needs to be done, and if he were honest, my boss would admit that. This letter essentially is a doctor's note telling our gym teacher we don't have to change clothes, basically. But, if Minnesota gets a "shelter in place" order, allowing the cops to stop people and ask where they're going (and there was potential for Governor Tim Walz to give that executive order this afternoon but didn't), I'm supposed to show that police officer this note and I should be on my way. That feels so elementary school.
We both asked our boss about the note, specifically how seriously we are supposed to take it. Because, and I think we implied this enough to him that he understood, if the situation in our state escalates to this, maybe it's best if we just comply and shelter in place. To which our boss says that if we wanted, we could call in sick. That'll get impractical after a while; we can't call in sick for the next six months.
So that was bad. What was worse was my boss e-mailing me, out of the blue, that I cannot use gloves anymore. I am paranoid that the virus would be living on one of the papers I work on. There are plenty, and I mean plenty. But for some goddamn reason, my job, according to him, is not allowed to use gloves.
Frankly, I'm pissed off. I am trying to protect myself from this mysterious, insidious evil. I live with parents who are at-risk. And,like I said, there are plenty of gloves around. I do not understand it, and I resent how little he seems to care about the protective measures I'm taking so that I don't bring this virus into my home.
But I don't know what to do. Well, maybe I do. I may have alluded to this before: When mentioning that I still have to appear on-site at work, one friend says I should call in sick and the other said what my workplace is doing is disrespectful.
You know, inbetween the giving of this letter and the e-mail warning me not to use gloves, I was actually defending this job. With so many people getting laid off, is my company really treating me worse for telling me to come in than other companies that have just let go of their people for, if they ever do get their jobs back, an indeterminate amount of time? (Both of my friends now work from home, and maybe I should find a job where I can do just that ... or go back to school to get enough education to find a job that'll let me work from home.) But then my boss gives me this unreasonable, ridiculous request, and I think I need to quit my job because my job is going to endanger my parents. Why am I boxed into a situation like this?
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