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Life at work has been rolling on, occasional issues here and there, but mostly just average. And then Wednesday hit - and all hell broke loose :
The Noise of a hundred fire engines
The front rooms we use to see customers are alarmed for our safety. For the back rooms we have personal alarms we can wear that are tied into the same system. Whoever installed the alarms is an idiot because they are set off by little buttons you have to dig your fingers into, set under the desk. Thats right - at exactly small child height.
A child set one of. It rings right through the building - and it really is loud.
So first we all have to rush out and make sure (a) it isn't a fire, and (b) no one has actually been attacked. then we have to tell all visitors to the building what the alarm is, and that they do not need to leave. Then we try to get it turned off which took 5 minutes and two phone calls from the manager.
Sickness. Impressive sickness.
A customers small boy got sick. Very sick - everywhere. He was sick up the walls, he was sick all over the deputy managers chair, he was sick into a bag held by our very impassive supervisor.
(I
about the deputies chair because I'm evil. We ended up throwing it away and ordering a new one).
And while the problem is only a stomach bug the poor boy has sickle cell anemia, and the supervisor ended up going to the hospital with the mother, and spent half the morning there. (He's OK but they kept him in over night).
And general insanity.
I normally deal with a fairly narrow range of problems - but kept getting really odd queries. I give very basic legal-ish advice, I'll tell people what to do if they're being evicted or sacked or if they aren't receiving the state benefit they are entitled to. I can't advise on court cases outside the small claims court (under £5000), I don't advise businesses, I don't advise on non-UK law. Normally no one asks me to.
On Wednesday I was asked what someone could do about spending £90'000 on a business premises following a written agreement to lease it, but then not been given the lease. To which I can only answer - Damned if I know.
Then someone was refused benefit by the UK who said Denmark should pay, and refused by Denmark who said the UK should pay. The UK decision was technically correct - the Danish decision ? Damned if I know.
Someone was upset that they'd been sacked. In 2002. (Also hadn't actually been sacked as she was a relief worker). She wanted to know what she could do. Ooh, I know this one. Nothing. You are 5 years too late to do anything. Go away. Writing to the health ombudsman is not going to help - particularly as the health ombudsman covers patient issues for the NHS and you are a worker sacked from a non-NHS job. Why ?
My favourite. Someone is being sued because someone claims her dog attacked them and this led to them being hit by a bus. This rather wonderful women actually acted out her dog not attacking someone. What should she do ? Damned if I know, but I'm hoping they won't bother to sue when they find out she cant pay them a penny.
Someone else is suing their insurer for around £20'000. Again, way beyond me. My favourite part of this was my manager acting on auto pilot suggested that they see if their home insurers covered legal protection. Um, they still won't pay to sue themselves
And then I saw only client I have from 3 years ago when I started the job. We have been trying to challenge a ridiculous decision by a government department for 4 years. It's like hitting your head on a brick wall. For 4 years they have ignored the fact that she was ill and we believe should not have been expected to notice that they made a mistake - now they say they accept she is too ill to have realised, but that she should obviously have read the 28 page booklet with their forms and arranged for an appointee to act for her because of her mental health problems. Yeah, because obviously that's the first thing people do when they have a breakdown. Arghh.
The last woman will never be forgotten in our work place because we also once gave her advice because rats had eaten the U-bend of her toilet.
I can go a month without anything and weird, out of my expertise, or down right as insane as that. Why do they all gang up and come in on one day ?
At least it was quiet - I'd normally have had to advise more people.
And it still beats working somewhere boring.
Victoria J
The Noise of a hundred fire engines
The front rooms we use to see customers are alarmed for our safety. For the back rooms we have personal alarms we can wear that are tied into the same system. Whoever installed the alarms is an idiot because they are set off by little buttons you have to dig your fingers into, set under the desk. Thats right - at exactly small child height.
A child set one of. It rings right through the building - and it really is loud.
So first we all have to rush out and make sure (a) it isn't a fire, and (b) no one has actually been attacked. then we have to tell all visitors to the building what the alarm is, and that they do not need to leave. Then we try to get it turned off which took 5 minutes and two phone calls from the manager.
Sickness. Impressive sickness.
A customers small boy got sick. Very sick - everywhere. He was sick up the walls, he was sick all over the deputy managers chair, he was sick into a bag held by our very impassive supervisor.
(I
about the deputies chair because I'm evil. We ended up throwing it away and ordering a new one).And while the problem is only a stomach bug the poor boy has sickle cell anemia, and the supervisor ended up going to the hospital with the mother, and spent half the morning there. (He's OK but they kept him in over night).
And general insanity.
I normally deal with a fairly narrow range of problems - but kept getting really odd queries. I give very basic legal-ish advice, I'll tell people what to do if they're being evicted or sacked or if they aren't receiving the state benefit they are entitled to. I can't advise on court cases outside the small claims court (under £5000), I don't advise businesses, I don't advise on non-UK law. Normally no one asks me to.
On Wednesday I was asked what someone could do about spending £90'000 on a business premises following a written agreement to lease it, but then not been given the lease. To which I can only answer - Damned if I know.
Then someone was refused benefit by the UK who said Denmark should pay, and refused by Denmark who said the UK should pay. The UK decision was technically correct - the Danish decision ? Damned if I know.
Someone was upset that they'd been sacked. In 2002. (Also hadn't actually been sacked as she was a relief worker). She wanted to know what she could do. Ooh, I know this one. Nothing. You are 5 years too late to do anything. Go away. Writing to the health ombudsman is not going to help - particularly as the health ombudsman covers patient issues for the NHS and you are a worker sacked from a non-NHS job. Why ?
My favourite. Someone is being sued because someone claims her dog attacked them and this led to them being hit by a bus. This rather wonderful women actually acted out her dog not attacking someone. What should she do ? Damned if I know, but I'm hoping they won't bother to sue when they find out she cant pay them a penny.
Someone else is suing their insurer for around £20'000. Again, way beyond me. My favourite part of this was my manager acting on auto pilot suggested that they see if their home insurers covered legal protection. Um, they still won't pay to sue themselves
And then I saw only client I have from 3 years ago when I started the job. We have been trying to challenge a ridiculous decision by a government department for 4 years. It's like hitting your head on a brick wall. For 4 years they have ignored the fact that she was ill and we believe should not have been expected to notice that they made a mistake - now they say they accept she is too ill to have realised, but that she should obviously have read the 28 page booklet with their forms and arranged for an appointee to act for her because of her mental health problems. Yeah, because obviously that's the first thing people do when they have a breakdown. Arghh.
The last woman will never be forgotten in our work place because we also once gave her advice because rats had eaten the U-bend of her toilet.
I can go a month without anything and weird, out of my expertise, or down right as insane as that. Why do they all gang up and come in on one day ?
At least it was quiet - I'd normally have had to advise more people.
And it still beats working somewhere boring.
Victoria J
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