Gone home to have a bath

[KnittedPuppy]

A coworker of mine got wet in the rain, and asked to, and was allowed to have the afternoon off to go home for a hot bath. Has anyone ever had anything like this happen at work? Wouldn't have been so bad, but it meant that I had to stay on and cover her shift, when otherwise I'd have been able to go home

[MoonCat]

That's ridiculous.

The only thing I know of to compare was this one co-worker years ago who called out at work because her power had gone out overnight and she "couldn't see to get dressed." This was a person whose hair and makeup were always salon-perfect and her shoes and handbag always matched, so I guess to her, having less-than-optimal light in the morning meant her appearance just wouldn't be acceptable!

[notalwaysright]

The only thing I know of to compare was this one co-worker years ago who called out at work because her power had gone out overnight and she "couldn't see to get dressed."

We had a manager do this! She always has her hair just so. And she couldn't curl her hair I guess, because there was no power. On a side note, I had mentioned that I took a final today. I was 85 questions into a 100 question final and the power blinked several times... I would have died if I had to take it over. The gusts got up to 67 mph.

[DeltaSierra]

I once had an incident many years ago where my car broke down in Dec, the middle of a freezing-rain storm, and I had to walk 2 miles to get to work. When I got there I was soaked to the skin and freezing, and slightly dilerious - turns out I had a touch of hypothermia. My awesome Manager gave me her coat and drove me home so I could dry off and warm up, and told me not to worry about missing my shift.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Working in a factory, early into my shift I had a machine hydraulic line let go and cover me in hydraulic oil. Had a change of shirt in the car, went to the washroom, wiped down and changed shirt and went back to work. Within the hour I was covered in welts, and was itching so bad I had scratched large bleeding furrows into my arms. I got sent home to shower, and once showered I went for Benadryl. It didn't help that much, when I got back to work I got sent home again to go to hospital.

So, yeah, I got sent home from work to shower. I guess it would depend, if your co-worker was shivering uncontrollably, or starting to get numb extremities, warming up would be important at that moment.

[KnittedPuppy]

Goodness, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but no the coworker wasn't shivering uncontrollably or anything like that. Her hair looked a bit damp, but other than that she seemed fine. She wasn't even soaked through. She actually seemed rather cheerful.

Though I do now feel I was being slightly mean about it.

[eltf177]

If coworker got soaked due to a management decision I really couldn't blame them...

I got forced to pick up a dead skunk a while back that was complete roadkill. Stunk to high heaven. When I got back I had to change (wearing a uniform) and took a very long and hot shower at work. When a supervisor asked what I was doing when I should be working I sang him a 4-letter aria and told him to take a hike (and not nicely). When the Superintendent gave me a hard time I told him that was the _last_ dead animal I would ever pick up for ungrateful SOB's.

Five years later and glad that's one job I don't have to fool with anymore. They _have_ asked, and I just laugh and say "hell no!"

[Kit-Ginevra]

...and now you've got me thinking about all these girls having to work in soaking wet blouses...there goes me being on Santa's nice list this year

[blas]

Um...I called in an hour or two LATE to work a few years back when I still had my own place. There wasn't a storm or anything, but one of those big transformers or power boxes that go to several houses/apartments went out on my street, and I was literally in pitch black. At the time, I only had a few candles from Yankee Candle, and I didn't want to shower in the dark, and I only had a few things like bananas to eat until I had power back to use the microwave (I didn't have that much stuff I guess back then, lol).

But, compared to shit my coworkers pulled, I think my extra hour or two I took to have power back so I could shower and dry my hair and see what I was doing was totally worth it.

[MoonCat]

I could see coming in a little late when there's a power outage. If you have to get up before dawn, you can't see worth sh*t, and of course without power you can't get a hot breakfast.

This is one reason I pick out my clothes for work the night before. Everything's ready to hand when I get up, which is great because I'm kinda fuzzy-brained in the morning.

But to be completely honest - in my co-worker's case - would anybody really have noticed if her (very short) hair wasn't "perfect"? She could have brought her make up in and done it in the ladies room. Management would have understood if her clothes weren't runway-ready, under the circumstances. I will give her points for being honest about it, though. She could have just called in sick and no one would have known the difference.

[bbbr]

Spent 30 minutes in an emergency chemical shower one day after getting completely soaked by a strong acid (transfer hosted broke, sprayed the whole damn room). The shower was cold as ice... And I didn't get to go home until after the hospital checked me out but that was only long enough to get changed and find some dry shoes.

[blas]

Oh, I'm a total makeup/hair whore and I'll be the first to admit I primp more than I ought to.

Not for my work, though. We all pretty much look homeless, since we're prone to rips and tears in our clothes. I just try to be presentable.