A few years ago I was having severe stomach bleeding/inflammation issues to the point where it was impacting my ability to be at work. Filed for FMLA, the gastro said I had the ability to be off work for 1-2 days a week for perioidic flare-ups for the next 6 months.
So, a couple months go by of the 1-2 times a week, and my condition starts improving. I go almost a month without any issues, then get a week where i have to take 2 days again and I get a letter saying "This FMLA usage isn't consistent with your doctor's orders" and they canceled it and told me I needed to to get recertification.
I was literally told "you're not using your FMLA enough so we're taking it away."
Sounds about right.
On the one hand, anything involving the government is very deterrent based and mired in bureaucracy but once you get through the hoop they'll do a lot to keep you jumping to justify their budgets and all the bureaucracy. And of course it justifies all the social programs and the advocates and funds the healthcare system and the list goes on and on of organizations that depend on the bureaucracy not only existing, but being as convoluted as possible.
It all feels very needless, and despite the good intentions and support being there when needed for some people at some times, if feels generally like the system is a step back from the horrible old days when you'd just have a good relationship with your employer and they'd help figure stuff out with you.
Having been in the military and VA system and going through seeing someone file for disability it's astonishing how often you do exactly what they direct you to do for them to only then deny you or be confused why you did what you did the way you did it. The army actually taught us (like literally in a class) to call the same offices back over and over until you get the answer you want, because even talking to the same person with all the same regulations you'll eventually get a different answer, so just wait until it's the answer you need. The government having to teach the government how to work around the government to get any governmenting done.
And then you get shit like video game addiction now being a valid disability. I've face a lot of judgement and scrutiny most of my life for playing too many video games, but who knew I was just a poor victim of a disability this whole time! I'm a video game survivor, really, a hero for my managing my addiction so well! (and yes, the point is there are people that struggle with video game addiction to the point of ruining their lives, but do we have to make it into social program or entire nanny state to get those few individuals the help they need?)
And it's not like the government is particularly competent and it's all just part of their well thought out plan to help people.
For instance, on the unemployment website there is a chat box. It says it can't connect outside of normal hours. So, I try to chat the next day, but it's just an automated FAQ sort of system. Why couldn't an automated system work outside of normal hours?! Thankfully my EQ quest experience taught me what to do, so I type in "help" and then "person" and it finally tells me it's an automated system (no shit!) and says to contact the jobs office to chat with live personnel for questions about unemployment claims. I get connected, and the lady on that chat says they aren't trained or supposed to answer questions about employment claims, but will try to help. So, I quote-mark questions I have about the wording on the webpage. She spends like five minutes 'researching' my issues, and then helps by emailing me screenshots of the same wording on their website. And of course suggests I just call the help line, which I had called 50 times over 2 days and never even through enough to be put on hold but instead the system just disconnects with a message they're experiencing heavy volume. But don't worry, on the website they provide a chat box if you have a question and haven't been able to get through to someone on the phone!
But there is no power in 'yes,' so take some sick leave so your doctor can fill out the same form again so your employer can justify the HR department and everyone can feel better about themselves for putting in so much effort to keep you healthy and you'll be right back to where you were before somebody decided to arbitrarily say no just to justify their bureaucratic existence.
itsallsotiresome.docx
