Thursday, March 22, 2012

There Are No Sick Days in Residential Life

Pardon the brevity of my post; I’m pretty sure I have walking pneumonia or at least one of the worst colds I have had in a while. As I lay on my couch, waiting for the wonderful effects of NyQuil to take hold, I’m left wondering if hall directors can ever take a real sick day. Can I truly “call in sick” if work is mere feet away from where I am now? Can it be considered a day off for rest if no one in the building knows or honors it, and insists on knocking on my door?

Today, maintenance decided, without providing any notice, they needed to inspect the vent duct that runs through my apartment. So, at 7:30am, they pounded on my front door and demanded entrance. Even as I stood there with a red nose, bloodshot eyes, and a fistful of used tissues, they showed no sympathy for my state of health. I told them they could wait until next week; however, they argued with me until I gave up in frustration and allowed them to traipse through my den of sick. A part of me hopes they get a cold too—at least their sick day would be uninterrupted by work.

When they call in sick, do I drive to their house and push my way through their front door? I understand a free apartment in only free on paper, but there needs to be a point when human decency trumps a work order. Sadly, whenever a hall director takes a sick day, they are still expected to entertain their constituents. As my title aptly describes my week, there are no sick days in Residential Life. 

5 comments:

  1. I know what you mean! During the H1N1 outbreaks in fall 2009 a couple of Hall Directors here got infected, and our boss told us that the expectation was that they were still answering emails and phone calls since they were "still in the building". Not cool!

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  2. Thanks for this post! I used to be a hall director and I was just thinking about the times that I literally drove to my parents house sick because I refused to stay in the building for reasons like these! Sorry for those that can't do that.. no one really knows the crap RHDs go through until they are in those shoes..stay strong!

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  3. Agreed! Living in a fish bowl is never fun. We have a policy that maintenance is not allowed to enter rooms until 10am. And if they need to enter pro staff apartments, they need to set up an appointment. Feel better.

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  4. Sorry to hear about such a crappy experience. Luckily, I don't have trouble with that on sick days. If I put in a work order, maintenance usually communicates with me to either get a key to my apartment or to schedule a time to meet with me. Guess it depends on your department's culture.

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  5. Very true. When I was an RA I worked many of my office hours while I was severely sick. I just couldn't justify calling off work when all I had to do was walk downstairs in my sweatpants and a T-shirt. I wasn't exactly presentable, but hey - I was able to get away with it.

    It did kind of suck, though. Because I knew my Hall Director would laugh at me if I called off, and to stay in my room meant to deal with constant noise and knocks on the door. I loved that lifestyle, but now that I'm gone I can't say I miss it too much. Hope you're feeling better!

    ~Shane

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