Not The Favorite

Friday, November 10, 2006

5 and a Half Days from Hell

Saturday Night
The night started off pretty good. Jon and I threw in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest after Lauren went to bed at 7:30. We order some pizza and I was about to go pick it up when Lauren started crying. I went in and rocked her while Jon left to get the food. And then I hear the 2 loud girls leave Lauries apartment like a herd of elephants. I bang on the wall to shut them up but it just wakes Lauren up and the loud girls don’t even notice. Everything settles down and Jon and I continue to watch our movie. The next thing we know, Monica (owner of the building and Lauries mother) storms down the hall and very loud yelling starts. So loud, Jon and I are having a hard time hearing the TV. So, I go out to tell them to be quiet and realize Monica is yelling at one of the loud girls about respect and whatnot with the door wide open. Laurie is standing maybe 5 feet away from me and I have to yell 4 times to get his attention to please close the door. Monica leaves a few minutes later and we start the movie back up. A very short 30 minutes later, Monica practically runs down the hall and is screaming at the loud girl to “Get out and never come back on this property or I will physically throw you off of it!” The loud girl leaves and peels out of the parking lot. Holy crap… Jon and I are listening to this in our apartment with our door closed and I’m shocked Lauren hasn’t woken up yet.
Knock, Knock, Knock. It’s Monica apologizing for her behavior and that she didn’t mean to disturb us but the loud girl was bad mouthing her and at 63 she has the right to be respected in her own home and she won’t tolerate such behavior. Honestly, I was damn proud of that woman. Jon and I had been complaining to each other for months about how loud this chick is and we’re extremely happy someone finally did something about it. So, back to the movie…

Sunday
Screaming and crying wake Jon and I up at 4:30am. It’s Lauren again. But this time when we go get her, she has a high fever and is practically inconsolable. We try giving her Advil but she gags and throws up. Telecare just tells us she probably has a virus and to keep her hydrated and she should better in 12-24 hours. We strip her naked and take her into bed with us. 6:30 rolls around and Lauren is up and raring to go. She eats breakfast and seems normal for a while. Then the fever come back. I’m supposed to go to work but Jon is feeling sick too and wants me to stay home because he doesn’t think he can take care of her. I call in sick to care for my two babies. By supper time, she seems fine. I give her bath and it’s off to bed.

Monday
Lauren’s been crying off and on all night and when I get her up she has a 103 fever. I call in sick again to work and take care of her. Jon has to go to work so Lauren and I spend a quiet day together trying to keep cool and rested. But she refuses to eat or drink anything and her whole face is running.

Tuesday
Same as Monday it seems. Up with a 103 fever and Jon and I decide to take her to the ER to make sure she doesn’t have anything serious. I call in sick again. We get there and she plays and walks around, leading the nurses to believe that she’s fine and we get bumped over and over. So, we go home without being seen by a doctor and continue to give her fluids. After no success in getting in to see our own doctor, we take her to the After Hours Clinic. She has a virus and to keep giving her fluids and Tylenol with Advil for the fever.

Wednesday
As if it couldn’t get any worse. She wakes up with 104.2 fever. I’m about to lose my mind and can’t call in sick again so I wait til the fever breaks and take her to daycare at 10. When I get to work, I have the worst day of my life here. I get reamed for taking time off with my sick child and that they believe I am unwilling to work because I chose her over work. Later on that afternoon, I’m told to work til 6, though I’d already worked through lunch, and that management believed I was uncommitted to the project and that one lady even wanted me replaced because of it. So, between 4 and 6, I sit and work and sob quietly at my desk trying not to completely lose it. This is a lot to take in with very little sleep in four days. And I now have a migraine from stress, lack of sleep and the fact that I hadn’t eaten anything since 9 that morning. When I finally am able to go home, I call to check in as I'm packing up my stuff to leave. She spiked to 104.5 in the afternoon and then 104.8 just before I called. My poor baby...

Thursday
Finally! No Fever! Still sick but at least she not cooking on the inside. I decide to make an appointment to see a psychologist that my doctor recommended when I saw him on Monday for my own check regular checkup. I told him about the stress at work but that it was ok right now since I was off my last really stressful project. How’s that for Murphy’s Law? As soon as I complain to my doctor about stress and “no, I don’t think we need to treat it right now” that two days later I would almost have a mental collapse at my desk. I also make an appointment with HR to defend myself and ask why I was being penalized for time off I was entitled to. Turns out, my team lead handled the situation very poorly and that I was in the right the whole time. I know that our client was really upset that our project was off track because I wasn’t here but I shouldn’t have been made to feel guilty for choosing family over work. Still, I can’t have this happening again or I will go postal and do something really stupid. And really, how many times do I have to sit and cry at my desk before something is done about it?

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posted by LadyLipgloss at 9:32 AM

4 Comments:

...so, this time machine you have, does it take you anywhere else besides the office from hell in 1952?

12:56 AM  

I think it's pretty obvious that it doesn't...

4:07 PM  

Truely, they couldn't have screwed up your situation any worse. Even if they were reading directly from a bad script, you would expect more compassion from humans.

9:59 AM  

I think you must be confused. Management are not humans.

11:12 AM  

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