Forget the fact that this Michigan woman was working part-time and only making $9 an hour. Forget the fact that her husband is being deployed to Iraq for at least a year, probably more. Forget the fact that corporate America sucks.
This story really drives home the point that normal America does not give a rat's ass about being at WAR.
From the AP:
A woman who took an unpaid leave of absence from work to see her husband off to war with an Indiana National Guard unit has been fired after failing to show up for her part-time receptionist job the day following his departure.
"It was a shock," said Suzette Boler, a 40-year-old mother of three and grandmother of three. "I was hurt. I felt abandoned by people I thought cared for me. I sat down on the floor and cried for probably two hours."
Officials at her former workplace, Benefit Management Administrators Inc., a Caledonia employee-benefits company, confirmed that Boler was dismissed when she didn't report to work the day after she said goodbye to her husband of 22 years.
"We gave her sufficient time to get back to work," Clark Galloway, vice president of operations for Benefit Management, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Wednesday.
He added that other factors were involved in the decision, but he declined to elaborate.
On Oct. 16, Boler went with her husband, Army Spc. Jerry Boler, 45, to an Indianapolis-area airfield, where he and others in his National Guard unit gathered to be transported to Fort Dix, N.J. The unit will soon be deployed to Iraq, where he will help guard convoys from insurgent attacks.
Although the Bolers moved to western Michigan 14 years ago, Jerry Boler, a diesel mechanic, decided to remain with his Bloomington, Ind.-based Guard unit, the 150th Field Artillery Regiment.
Suzette Boler had received permission to take off work the week leading up to her husband's departure. As a part-time employee at Benefit Management, she did not receive vacation pay and was not compensated for her time off.
She usually worked Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays answering telephones, entering claims information and greeting visitors and clients. Boler, who said she considers herself a reliable employee with good work habits, was employed at the company for 14 months and earned $9 per hour.
Boler recalled being asked, not ordered, to start back at her job Oct. 17, the day after her husband left. She told her bosses that she would try to return that day but if she could not, she would definitely be back Oct. 18, she said.
When Boler returned home from Indiana on the night of Oct. 16, a few hours after leaving her husband at the airfield, she said she felt drained by the emotional ordeal and decided to return to work Oct. 18.
But on the afternoon of Oct. 17, she received a call from work telling her to come in the following day and get her things because she was being fired. Her pink slip said the reason was she failed to show up for work Oct. 17, a Monday.
"If I had even an inkling that I would be fired for not coming in Monday, I would have been there," she said.
Sorry your husband is being shipped off to war. Screw you, lady! But don't worry, at a Specialist's pay rate (as an E-4, his base pay will be LESS than $2,000/month), I'm sure you patriotic folks willing to sacrifice for your country will somehow manage to survive. Meanwhile, we here at Benefit Management Administrators, Inc. will continue to exploit the poor and working class through low wages while simultaneously spitting in your face as your husband defends our right to do so. Ha HA! Corporate America wins again, suckers!
Okay - so. She didn't show up on the 17th, after taking a WEEK of UNPAID vacation. Isn't there someone in the compnay who is supposed to talk to her, find out if she's doing all right, find out what her circumstances may be? Someone to say, "hey, I understand. What can we do to make things better?" Maybe they just hate military families.
But wait, Benari. You don't know all the facts.
No. I don't. I don't know what her history at the company is like. But I do know bad timing and a callous disregard for human beings. This woman is in the middle of some very emotional circumstances - at the very least, a little special care should be given to ANYONE who has to endure a deployment. I think they could cut her a little slack this time. Until the rest of the US of A begins feeling the heavy impact of WAR, things like this will continue happening. Because we're delusional. We think everything can and should run normally - better than normal! - even when we're fighting two different wars on two different fronts in two different countries. We've been at war overseas for about 4 years now. We've been at war in Iraq for over 2 years. And so far, the only Americans who have truly been impacted by this have been military families, expected to bear the brunt of America's sacrifice. It's getting old.
Now, here's something interesting. I wanted to call up this company and register my extreme displeasure at their utter disregard for what this woman may be going through. But when I went to their website, http://www.benefitsthatfit.com/, to find some contact info, I got this message:
Our website is currently down. Please check back at a later time. We apologize for the inconvenience.
I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to get in touch with these guys. That's encouraging. And with a little more googling, I was able to come up with a number and an address:
N. Henry Bledsoe
President/ASM
Benefit Management Administrators, Inc.
PO BOX 17
9365 Cherry Valley Ave
Caledonia, MI 49316
Phone: 616-891-1984
Fax: 616-891-9009
Email: henry@benefitsthatfit.com
Give 'em a call or drop 'em a nice letter or an e-mail. Remember to use civil language. And small words.
But, wait, Benari. All she had to do was show up to work the day after her husband got deployed! Aren't you getting a little carried away here?
You know what. When you get deployed or when your husband/wife/father/mother/son/daughter/loved one gets deployed, then you can talk to me about showing up to work the next day. Until then:
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