Thursday, January 29, 2004
Jon here again. Thanks for the notes of encouragement. I have really been down lately, and I've realized that I'm stuck on myself. I sometimes have a hard time remembering that it's all about the family, not me, and Kyle is one of the family. I was expressing my frustrations, but the bottom line, a part of our family has been hurt. That affects us all.
While Kyle probably could have taken off walking from where he was at the time, he was worried about putting in that much time and not getting paid. He would have been walking on feet already numb and damaged. He was asking for breaks and to warm up, and they wouldn't give them to him. He decided to tough it out, not knowing an hour would stretch into 6 would stretch into 12. Kyle has a check that shows 17.5 hours, and no breaks, lunch, or anything else. The more we think about this, the more angry we get.
Karen called the company and asked them if they would cover the medical bills. As you might imagine, she got nowhere. She finally got the name of their insurance company, and contacted them. They were concerned, said the company was in trouble because of this, and said of course Kyle's bills would be covered. They also encouraged him not to consult an attorney.
Which is, of course, exactly what he'll do. The doc today said he will lose parts of several toes, and they are already blistered on the tips. We don't know how much permanent damage he has, and what has to be done from here, but most likely some skin grafting. The bottom line, while Kyle could have walked away, it was the middle of the night, it was freezing, and he really wanted the money. He toughed it out. The company did NOTHING to look after his safety and well being. They gave him no breaks. They should shoulder this financial burden.
I'm off to the second job. I'll try and update this somewhat regularly for the near future.
While Kyle probably could have taken off walking from where he was at the time, he was worried about putting in that much time and not getting paid. He would have been walking on feet already numb and damaged. He was asking for breaks and to warm up, and they wouldn't give them to him. He decided to tough it out, not knowing an hour would stretch into 6 would stretch into 12. Kyle has a check that shows 17.5 hours, and no breaks, lunch, or anything else. The more we think about this, the more angry we get.
Karen called the company and asked them if they would cover the medical bills. As you might imagine, she got nowhere. She finally got the name of their insurance company, and contacted them. They were concerned, said the company was in trouble because of this, and said of course Kyle's bills would be covered. They also encouraged him not to consult an attorney.
Which is, of course, exactly what he'll do. The doc today said he will lose parts of several toes, and they are already blistered on the tips. We don't know how much permanent damage he has, and what has to be done from here, but most likely some skin grafting. The bottom line, while Kyle could have walked away, it was the middle of the night, it was freezing, and he really wanted the money. He toughed it out. The company did NOTHING to look after his safety and well being. They gave him no breaks. They should shoulder this financial burden.
I'm off to the second job. I'll try and update this somewhat regularly for the near future.
