Snow Day

OK, so you hear the big news on TV at the beginning of the week that a 'colossal' (yes, that was the darling word of the media) snowstorm is coming. You lay battle plans. These included going to the store early Monday morning to pick up staples as well as the other miscellaneous items on your list. Snowblower? Check. Brought up from the shed, gassed up and positioned in the garage. Full tanks of gas in both vehicles? Check. Snow shovel, broom, blanket, extra food and water in the truck? Check. As the days went by and the storm got even more 'colossal', those supplies grew to include snow pants and winter boots.

And when I saw a coworker's Facebook post the eve of the storm, my supplies soon included a change of clothes and contact case. The post joyously exclaiming that she'd been told to stay home from first shift tomorrow. As in the shift that comes in to relieve third shift.

Yes, I really did swivel my head to check our phone for a blinking message. Knowing there was none, of course.

Now let me say that quite a number of us were impressed that our employer initiated an snow emergency plan in the hours before the storm was due to arrive. This is remarkably and surprisingly proactive on their part. AND that the lab was included in it.

Having said that, though, in the resulting bizarre-ass lottery that followed, a select few employees were called and told to simply stay home. A select few were asked to come to the hospital, spend the night in the unused Rehab unit and work Wednesday...and get paid double time, including the time spent sleeping. And a select few bundled up at home, drove out into the storm and worked their regular shift for straight time. And drove back home again in the still-raging storm. Employees who lived less than 5 miles away were told to stay home, while someone who commutes 40 miles (no, I don't have the longest commute) made it in to start her shift, ON TIME at 5am. She walked in to our disbelieving applause.

So...yeah. It's going to be the Talk for quite some time. What would have made it more fair? How could it been better arranged? Would communication actually have made this better? Was it so impossible to determine where employees live? Was the free food in the cafeteria (only meant for those employees who stayed extra) any different than the usual greasy swill served the other days of the year?

Any ideas? Any plans implemented in other work places that seem to make sense?