Sunday, January 28, 2007

ethics give me a hotfoot

One of the hardest things about working on Sunday is that I'm usually the only person at a work station on this side of the building and the heat is usually not on. I have a blanket in my file drawer that I cover my legs with and I have a fuzzy jacket hanging on the wall that I use to cover my arms. I haven't been able to find a way to keep my fingers warm. It only takes 5 or 10 minutes before I have popsicle extremities. I sometimes get a cup of hot water or tea and keep it near me so that I can wrap my fingers around the warm china. It keeps my fingers from being truly frozen but doesn't help keep them limber. Someone up here has a portable heater hidden away and has given me permission to use it. Shhhh! no one's supposed to know. We're not supposed to plug these things in as they may blow out the server.

So is it ethical for me to use it? If I don't use it my health and my work suffer. There's a small likelihood it could blow the circuit but it's unlikely since I'm the only one with an appliance plugged in. Yet we've been told not to use heaters. I think the burden of ethical behavior is on the employer to give the employees a proper warm place to work. Don't tell anybody, ok?

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