Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Liver Failure
I have a coworker who is dying of liver failure. Its taken me my full 2 and 1/2 years of working in this office to figure it out.
I noticed the blood shot eyes, the shaking hands, but thought it might just be age. A temp this past fall was the first to point out to me that he reeks of alcohol in the afternoon (I'm not one known for my sense of smell). Last month he announced at a staff meeting his displeasure with the holiday season. Then there was some discussion of a "medical condition" by the office director when I approached him. My co-worker is in a different subject area, so I don't work close wit him. When I do, he proves to be incompetent. We took a new employee today, who has to work on that area and this time he was unable to complete coherent sentences. His supervisor, who was in the meeting, stopped by late this evening and mentioned it in passing. She's remarkably glib about it, even for a poor manager. She apparently doesn't expect him to last much longer. I tried to nudge the "your his supervisor" part, expecting her to demand good work from him, and intervene when it isn't (supervising is hard work, and you shouldn't be one unless you're up for it!). Hell, she commented on him being locked in his office this afternoon and that wing of the office smelling of cheap liquor. She also told me about his breaking down in front of her after a medical appointment.
So, it took this knocking me over the head to "figure it out." Apparently we're just waiting for him to die now? This should make going to work fun.
I noticed the blood shot eyes, the shaking hands, but thought it might just be age. A temp this past fall was the first to point out to me that he reeks of alcohol in the afternoon (I'm not one known for my sense of smell). Last month he announced at a staff meeting his displeasure with the holiday season. Then there was some discussion of a "medical condition" by the office director when I approached him. My co-worker is in a different subject area, so I don't work close wit him. When I do, he proves to be incompetent. We took a new employee today, who has to work on that area and this time he was unable to complete coherent sentences. His supervisor, who was in the meeting, stopped by late this evening and mentioned it in passing. She's remarkably glib about it, even for a poor manager. She apparently doesn't expect him to last much longer. I tried to nudge the "your his supervisor" part, expecting her to demand good work from him, and intervene when it isn't (supervising is hard work, and you shouldn't be one unless you're up for it!). Hell, she commented on him being locked in his office this afternoon and that wing of the office smelling of cheap liquor. She also told me about his breaking down in front of her after a medical appointment.
So, it took this knocking me over the head to "figure it out." Apparently we're just waiting for him to die now? This should make going to work fun.
