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.
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!
ReplyDeleteThanks 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!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! 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.
ReplyDeleteSorry 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.
ReplyDeleteVery 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.
ReplyDeleteIt 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