It’s been three weeks since my last Working Wednesday. But, you know, a working mom gets busy. Today’s Working Wednesday has little to do with balancing kids and career and more to do with a little rant about my co-workers. I know, I know. Never blog about work. But I just never learn.

So here we go.

A co-worker of mine is having some family issues. His partner has been in the hospital with chest pains and shortness of breath. This guy is in his thirties so he’s way too young to be having these problems. Last night they diagnosed him with Congestive Heart Failure.

Many of the people in our group are very close. Especially those in my location. We go out partying together. We have inside jokes. We have a great working relationship as well as real friendships. So when we heard that one of our men was down we took action.

My cubemate (who also happens to be my best friend since high school) sent out a note to the team asking if everybody would like to come together to get flowers or balloons or something. Seems like a simple request. It’s what any normal person would do when you hear somebody is having a rough time. In fact we have done this several times in the past when a family member died, a house burned down, somebody got married, or new babies entered the family.

I work for Big Business. In fact it’s a very big company which I’m sure all of you have heard of no matter where you are in the nation or, probably, world. We do all kinds of charitable things as major corporations often do. We have blood drives all the time. Right now we are in the midst of a charity event for battered woman. At the beginning of the year we had a school supply drive and at Christmas time we participated in Toys for Tots. We also have the option to use “charitable hours” where we can contribute at a school or local community function without having to use vacation time. So we are a company of givers. Usually.

But in this case there was a big stink about it. Apparently some of our teammates in other locations complained. Apparently they have issues too but we aren’t buying them flowers or balloons. Seriously?!? These are adults are playing the “it ain’t fair” card like a six-year-old child? If we knew what their problems were we would likely get them flowers and a card too. But we can’t read minds people.

I don’t know about you, but if my husband was in the hospital I would take great comfort in knowing people were thinking of me and sending warm wishes and prayers my way. It makes me feel good when I know the people I interact with every day took five minutes out of their time to think of me and organize a flower or balloon bouquet.

If money is tight and you just can’t spring it this time, then that’s fine. If you aren’t very close to this person and would rather opt out, that’s your decision. Nobody is twisting you arm. Nobody is going to call you out as stingy and uncaring. Nobody is going to pressure you. We are all adults. But to go complain to your manager because “everybody has issues” is childish and uncalled for.

Gone are the days when you greeted neighbors with a home baked pie. Gone are the days when you send thank you notes for every gift you get, no matter how small or how ugly. Gone are the days when you spend a couple of bucks to send a get well bear to a co-worker. Now we’re just more concerned with our own problems. It’s really quite sad.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 12:28 pm and is filed under A day in our life. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.