Good morning everyone and welcome back to the breakroom. I hope you all had a great holiday and have begun that dreadful transition of getting back into work, only to have another long weekend as we go into the New Year. Truthfully, this is very much a “coasting” sort of week where we are trying to stay just busy enough to get from one holiday to the next.
That certainly is the way at Dunder Mifflin; the day has been very typical and we have just been trying to go to the end of the day. So much in fact, we didn’t really notice that Michael hadn’t yet show up for the day (or that was our excuse why we hadn’t been super productive yet that morning). This was until Pam had actually gotten a phone call from Michael and it sounds like he was in a very serious accident at home. He had gotten up from bed and accidentally stepped on his George Foreman grill, burning his foot and this resulted in him being in a great deal of pain. Rather than calling a family member or his girlfriend (whom he said was real but he simply made up) me instead chose to turn to Pam to come and pick him so he could go to work. Well Pam was not interested in leaving the office to go pick him up and truthfully no one else was either; we asked why he couldn’t just stay home and I guess he had no toilet paper so he had to go to the office. The true hero of this turns out to be Dwight who runs out the door with little thought to come to Michael’s aid, despite his apprehensions about Dwight being his savior. It was then we heard this crash and we saw that Dwight had crashed into something out in the parking lot. He was so shaken up by this that he actually had to get out of his car and throw up on the back, before then racing off towards Michael again. And that essentially set the tone for how the rest of this day was going.
I know what most of you are asking, couldn’t Michael have simply stayed home rather than going into work? An injury would certainly fall under the scope of needing to call in sick for work and you should be able to call in, unable to attend. Now, Michael’s injury doesn’t truly seem that bad and although he didn’t require a hospital trip, you should see a doctor if there is any sort of risk that your injury could be worse. While it is true that your absences might be investigated if you are calling in habitually, you should not be afraid to call in if you are not in a state to do your job. In Michael’s case, I think we can agree his primarily did not want to be left alone at home and although his injury could be construed as a minor inconvenience, he wanted others to take care of him and he felt his employees at the office were the best ones to do so.
Despite being so early in the day, there were actually two injuries which occurred with the second being Dwight. In his rashness to get to Michael, he crashed his car and not only damaged it but seems to have suffered an injury himself given the need to throw up. Even if there was no immediate evidence that he hurt himself, it is not uncommon for car accidents to have their effects show up days later. What is important to note is that besides an injury, this most likely would be considered a workplace injury. According to OSHA, their definition of a workplace injury is: “The general rule is that all injuries and illnesses which result from events or exposures on the employer’s premises are presumed to be work related. Furthermore, if it seems likely that an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the case, the case is considered work related1.” Given that this accident occurred on company property, during his shift, and in completing a task from his superior then this would be considered a workplace injury. This should be reported to the corporate office as there is a very good chance he could be eligible for worker’s compensation. Now, Dwight is not one to make a big deal about a personal injury as he prefers to put the company (and Michael) first. However, if you are ever in a workplace injury you should absolutely report this to ensure that you have done your part in case you need to claim worker’s compensation. In this case, do not be like Dwight.
Well, Dwight ultimately returns with Michael and immediately starts to get him comfortable. Michael is irritable, in pain, and walking around on crutches (not sure where he found those) and Dwight seems to be a little dazed but overall okay. Michael has blankets, lotions, and movies all trying to get comfortable to get through this ordeal. As I mentioned above, he should have just called in sick to do all this at home but then he would be responsible for this himself. And he is absolutely trying to ask ridiculous requests of staff to take care of him. He wanted Pam to rub Country Crock on his burnt foot (this doesn’t actually work and can result in an infection or additional injury), and then tried to get Ryan to help clean himself up after falling off the toilet. But Ryan did get stuck having to drive all around to neighboring towns to grab specific foods for Michael because he was in desperate need for some comfort food. While it might seem simple enough to just go with the request, you do not actually need to agree to such ridiculous demands by your boss which do not pertain to your job. That being said, I have agreed to drive to shops for errands before because it does get you out of the office so I can see why Ryan was willing to do that one.
Because we were not willing to bend to Michael’s every demand, he decided to call in a special guest to hopefully educate us about how to treat people. That person was Billy Merchant, the building manager for the business park who coincidentally uses a wheelchair. He was a really nice guy who took the time to educate us on the parking rules for the building, but he left as soon as Michael tried to draw some comparisons between himself and Billy. I did find it amusing that Michael was so shocked it takes him 30 second to brush his teeth, when it only takes Michael 10 seconds. For the record, all reliable sources advise taking two minutes to brush your teeth so both Billy and Michael are shockingly lax on their brushing technique (this must be why Michael often complains of soft teeth).
Thankfully for most of us, Michael is not as eager to spend exorbitant amounts of time with us like Ryan and Pam so we can just watch in the background. But doing so, I was watching Dwight and I think he may have gotten a bit more banged up in that car accident than we originally thought. He has been acting very kind to everyone, loses his train of thought which is causing him to stop midsentence, and I saw he was typing his name dozens of times into a folder name on his computer. Pam also sensed something was off, especially since he was spending so much time helping her set up the Prism Duro Sport she got from Christmas from Roy (like an iPod but supposedly better, and cheaper). We were just talking about him acting so odd when he just collapsed at his desk, and that was when we knew there was a problem and his most likely had a concussion. Jim, our hero in the moment, was quick get Dwight out the door to bring him to the hospital along with Michael (although, he needed some arm-twisting). A couple hours later Pam did pass on the update that Dwight was going to be okay and would recover quickly, so thankfully it didn’t end up being serious. And it got Michael out of the office so we could get some work done without him insisting on us waiting on him.
What this incident brings up is that it is important to be aware if we might have a concussion because it is imperative to seek medical attention. These most often occur after you have had a blow or bump to your head and will normally show up soon after the injury, although the severity can taken up to several hours to present themselves. According to the Center for Disease Control, some of the common signs include trouble remembering events immediately before or after the injury, nausea or vomiting, being dazed or stunned, and losing consciousness2. Should you be concerned you have a concussion or that someone you know might, it is certainly best to see a medical professional. Should you be unsure about going into an actual office, most clinics and hospitals do have a virtual option where you can talk to a provider and they can advise if they believe it is best for you to come in. Regardless, this entire day should teach us that is important to not disregard injuries because we should never underestimate how bad they might be. Nor, should we put our health at risk for the sake of a job because no job is worth serious injury.
I hope everyone uses today as a reminder about taking care of oneself and to take stock of where our priorities should lie. And, of course, the importance of reporting any sort of workplace injury because you never know what will become severe enough that you might need to see a doctor. I hope you all also have a great weekend, and we’ll see you around the breakroom next year!
Feel free to leave us a comment! I’ll pose two questions this time so dealers choice! With the New Year approaching, do you have any traditions you like to do every New Year? When I was growing up, I remember always watching the Three Stooges marathon that was one each year with my dad and brothers. Or question two, for those general illnesses what is your ideal day of rest looking like? Mine is a favorite move (usually something like Jurassic Park or The Hobbit) along with my amazing homemade chicken noodle soup (the magic is all in the bone broth).
- (n.d.). Definition and determination of work related injuries and illnesses. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Retrieved December 28, 2023, from https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/1996-04-18-1#:~:text=The%20general%20rule%20is%20that,case%20is%20considered%20work%20related. ↩︎
- (2019, February 12). Concussion Signs and Symptoms. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved December 28, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/basics/concussion_symptoms.html ↩︎
