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I'm not able to blog today, and well... actually, I wanted a little break. Here's an oldie from the archives (2008). Update though, we can now work from home! Which makes life easier. So I suppose this blog really isn't valid anymore. But seriously, how much work can you get done with a 7 year old "momming" you all day?
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Most kids and stay-at-home moms/dads get excited when their school scrolls across the bottom of the TV screen letting them know they get to stay home that day because of the bad roads. Well, not this mom or kid...
No matter what, I have to go to work, and sooner or later, when Bo starts school, I'll have to find a place for him to go too. Bottom line, even if there is, oh, 20 inches of snow on the ground ... my power is out ... and my car is in a ditch from doing a 360 on an icy road... (That didn't really happen, but hey it might some day.) I'm still expected to be there. I can't work from home because of what I do, and I can't take the day off if I don't have any more paid days off. I even get the joy of waking my kid up extra early and making him really mad. (2-year-old tantrum anyone?)
When Mike Thompson tells his Fox 4 viewers to, "stay home," I laugh and think to myself, "Ha. Right."
I have a huge amount of morning anxiety. We're talking stress to the max. Heart pounding, palms sweaty on the steering wheel, I even find myself yelling at Bo for silly things such as taking too much time putting his gloves on. I'm a morning MESS.
My hours used to be flexible, but now ... oh not now, now we all have to be there at a certain time. My whereabouts have to been known every work day all day long. (Funny, though, we can't really leave at a certain time every day if our work isn't done ... hmmmm...) Overtime pay? Hah. (Let's not even mention the fact about being over-worked... oops I done mentioned it...)
Anyways! Just a few days ago, I believe it was Monday or Tuesday I recieved a reminder about the office's snow-day policy. It was meant to be helpful, perhaps even a somewhat gentle reminder, mostly made for those who had questions about what the policy on snow days was.
But that day... it just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not allowed to repeat it, but the basic message: you are expected to be at work when it snows/ices, oh ... and make sure to allow yourself enough time to get there on time.
Acckk! My morning anxiety just went from a cool, doable daily 10 to a 30, no, make that a frosty 50! (on a scale of 1-5, that is... 1 being no anxiety).
I know, I know... I'm a grown up and I made the decision to give myself this headache by being a full-time working mom... I knew all along I would have to go through this, but, can I get some sympathy anyone? Anyone? I know some of you moms get stressed about making it to work on time. Don't be shy.
The reminder pushed my buttons a little, OK ... a lot. I kinda felt like, well you know, I felt irritated. Living in Kansas City and driving in snow for about 12 years now (Mind you, every car I've ever owned has been rear-wheel drive) you would think I knew I had to leave early and give myself enough time to get to work. Did I really need the reminder?
Sigh.
For now, I'm taking my dad's advice to heart, "Drive slow, take your time, don't worry about getting there on time and ARRIVE ALIVE." (Oh, and something else about not giving a %$#@ about the guy riding your arse cause they can always go around you and they are always the ones that end up in the ditch.)
I guess it's better to walk in late and get a look rather than for your work to get a phone call that you're in the hospital ... or God forbid, worse ...
So, yeah, unless it's snowing sometime between Friday night and Sunday morning... don't expect me to be jolly about the damn snow.
Girl, I know! Come hell or high water I have to be there too! Unfortunately, it's illegal to have an unstaffed ambulance (actually, it's illegal to have less then X number of ambulances for an X radius), so when I don't show up to work, i'm practically breaking the law! And on top of that, I have to work out in the weather once I do get to work! lolI wondered if the newspaper would add guilt onto it's employees now that it scared everyone to death with the layoffs. Workplace attitudes and rules add to our stress. Riss, I can see where your situation is different. But I once worked at a newspaper that treated me the way Tonya feels and I can't tell you how good it was to get out of there. I know the job market is bad, but believe me there are jobs. Especially if you have design work that you can do online. Those jobs pay a hell of a lot more AND would offer flexibility. I know some of the stress you feel as we both worked when our first was born -- until she was about four years old. Then we changed our lives drastically and went to a one income lifestyle and never looked back (ok, the trips are what I miss!). You might look for an online job -- one that you can do from home or in an ad agency locally. Good designers who can work on deadline can rake in some serious cash.Well, that sucks! I see Risa's deal, and I'd even "get it" if you worked for a TV or radio station. But, as long as you get that work done before the paper goes to print, who cares what time you get there (within reason) as long as you arrive safely? In most organizations, it's easy to separate the worker bees from the slackers. Surely, they know their hard workers put in the effort elsewhere, put in the time, give 100% so the job is done right--no matter if they arrive early or 10 minutes late due to a storm!No snow days at the IRS either. I don't work there now, but I have before. Ay! No snow days for dad either, huh?When I worked it was always funny that I lived an hour away and made it to work on time no matter what the weather, but the ones that lived 10 to 15 minutes away just couldn't get there on time even on good days let alone snow or ice days!! Grrrr!I remember this stress well. And I don't miss it in the least. The only thing is... I didn't give a rat's fart if I "got in trouble" for being late on a snow day. I wasn't going to kill myself in order to get there on time. I knew plenty of people who would just refuse to come in at all, so I felt okay about being late because at least I showed.I get really impatient with employers who don't care enough about their employees than to expect them to brave dangerous conditions to get to work. Another thing that irritates me is employers who get ticked off if a worker is sick. This is why illnesses perpetuate themselves--people don't want to call in sick because the boss is an ass about it, so they bring their diseases to work with them, and then EVERYBODY gets sick. Makes me mad.Oh, and I'm with you, Jennifer. If driving conditions are hazardous, I'm gonna take my sweet time getting there. No job is worth risking getting maimed or killed just to GET there.I work in a 24/7/365 operation and I play storms and calling in by ear. The last blizzard I put in a leave slip the day before and felt absolutely no guilt in not going to work, because I knew most of my co-workers would do that too. When I saw the amount of snow on the ground, I felt no shame-I made the right decision. The two people that showed up in my department left early that day and there was no mail delivery that day (I work at the PO). This time around, the snow fell on my day off-what a deal! Years ago, I used to get very anxious with the weather, but not so much now. If I have to go to work, or it starts while I am there, I just get in the car and go with the flow. I am not racing, I leave early, I drive slow and cautiously and just try to be safe. My heart thumps a little harder, but it is nothing like I used to be.
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