a day for me.

one of the things i will never become accustomed to in the workplace is injustice to the meek, mild and hard working. witnessing it does nothing for morale, and so today - i'm taking a day for me.  a sick day, i will call it.

on wednesday, a tropical depression blew through and soaked us.  around 10 in the morning, i grabbed my umbrella and cigarettes and headed for the picnic table, which is beside the triage room.  there was an ambulance there, waiting to load an inmate for transport to the ER. and the sergeant was overseeing - or waiting to. 

she came to stand beside me and i said - it's started already, has it?  and it must have been a day and half already because she unloaded right then and there.  when they go out to appointment, they get admitted to the hospital.  they go from the unit.  after the one who was waiting to be loaded, another one with chest pains was waiting for a second ambulance to arrive.  we're short staffed - the officers would go, of course, there is no choice, but that would leave the unit lacking for custody staff, and there was no help available from the other two prisons in the area.

and then in the midst of her venting, she told me something that made me feel like i had been slammed against a brick wall.  "and this morning, i heard they walked the clinical  social worker out yesterday evening."  to be walked out usually means you aren't coming back...

the social worker is a friend, the meekest, mildest most hard working man i've ever met.  he's a bit high strung, yes - but after 2 years of working with him at hoke and the hospital - the vision i get in my head of him doing anything remotely bad during his moments of utter frustration is spinning in a tasmanian devil spin, turning red and passing out.  he simply doesn't have it in him to be unprofessional or mean in any way. the man has integrity. he just does.

and i know from where his being escorted out stemmed.  from the employee who reports directly to him.  he wrote a bad TAP on her - she does not do her job, and i have seen this.  after that, her husband called my friend and threatened him.  the husband had to be removed from the gate area later, and while he could still come on doc property, he could not exit his car.  then the phone calls at home started for my friend.  and then, there came a blow-up when she told the assistant superintendent she didn't know what her job was.  now...jim has only been at the hospital for 2 years, and she was employed in that position for 2 years prior.  she didn't know what her job duties were?  i don't freaking think so.

and so they walked jim out.  he has not been fired, but has been moved to a different location pending investigation.  i would love to see what the charges are, and no matter what they are, i can guarantee they are contrived.