Most likely I would either be unemployed or my first child would be dead if not for the Family Medical Leave Act legally requiring employers to allow people time off to care for their families when absolutely necessary. Of course, it doesn't require you get paid during that period or that the paperwork has to be reasonable. I've nearly lost my job before because of minor issues with paperwork, even though I had undeniable justification for missing work.
The best was the first time I ever had to make use of FMLA because my wife was paralyzed for a week. I turned in the paperwork, not realizing I'd done anything incorrectly, and HR didn't tell me there was any problem until the day of the deadline, when they informed me that the application was denied. So that entire week was counted as an unexcused absence. I learned pretty quickly that our HR rep is a sly creature manifested of pure hatred.
I was still pretty new to corporate office environments at that point. I went around for a while after that reading up on other people's experiences. Many have been told some variation of the phrase "If the company had wanted you to have a child, you would have been issued one."
And then there was that time my wife was so sick she could barely drag herself out of bed, so I took a couple days off, because I have two days a month pre-approved for issues that may arise with my son's diabetes. I nearly got into a shouting match with the senior manager over the phone. She tried to accuse me of abusing the system, since the FMLA was only approved for my son's condition and it was my wife that was sick. The argument that she was unfit to treat his condition, thus I had to be there to do so was unacceptable to her.
Is it any wonder I have zero trust or faith in authority?
And yet despite being anti child, corporations are not pro GLBT.... [is confused]
Yes, contrary to the pipe dream most Americans live in, the company will not save you. It will save itself and if doing so means screwing you over, then it simply will. "Saving itself" means from even slight discomfort or losing so much as a single penny. HR is not your friend and never was. This is the company's way of handling you, and I mean "handling" in the worst possible way.
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In other news, I am having incredible difficulty focusing. My thoughts are normally rather organized but they are currently quite messed up. I've never even read of anything like this either. Forgetting the massive headaches (as if I could), I'm having the weirdest, most nonsensical thoughts. I don't learn via reading, speech, etc, but rather in space. Flow charts work for me and I plot my ideas out in real or imagined space. For some nonsensical reason, my attention is extremely focused on an area of space inside my head (always the exact same location, shape, and volume) and this distracts the hell out of me. Its an attention opportunity cost--it keeps me from focusing on other things. It also tends to hurt like hell.
I've studied neurology and the area in question doesn't add up to any of this. Occipital Lobe deals primarily in vision and my vision's fine. The thoughts consist strangely and primarily of an extreme awareness of random body parts or parts thereof. Right now a spot on my left arm 3 inches below the elbow is very notable to me, though not hurting. This will change to a different, random body part in a couple of hours with no apparent reason or pattern. My doctor has no idea what to make of it and it mostly is just annoying to me. I plan on laying in bed the entire weekend, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to read a whole lot, which is something I like doing. I'm quite annoyed at my body not making any sense right now. This portion of the weirdness doesn't itch, isn't sensitive, or anything. It's just... there and I'm focused/thinking about it.
Me: "I wonder if that motion is due on the 13th or the 18th, his 3s look like 8s and I shou"
Body: [You have a spot 3 inches below your elbow]
Me: "So... calendar and docket wher"
Body: [spot 3 inches below your elbow]
Me: "So?
Body: [It's there.]
Me: "And?"
Body: [its there and exactly in a perfect circle, that particular area]
Me: ".... the hell is that calendar at anyh"
Body [3 inches below the elbow]
Me: "O screw this."
The hell is that?