Pony Down!

Thursday morning at 5:10 a.m., I said goodbye to The Pony as he left for work. Told him to be safe, and have a good day. I must have snoozed off in my OPC (Old People Chair), because I woke up at 6:15 with a feeling I should check my phone. When I picked it up from the TV tray that acts as a table for the remote, it buzzed to notify me of a text. What I read set me to wringing my apron strings! At 6:07 a.m., from The Pony:

"Might have bruised or broken my tailbone. Foot slid on the stairs and I bounced off them. Will let you know if it calms down."

"Are you okay?"

"Will let you know. Right now it's just sore and painful when I sit or walk, but nothing that screams broken. I'll go do packages and give it time to see, then bring it up with the manager if it's not feeling fine."

"Treatment is just sitting on a pillow, I think."

At 11:02, I got an update:

"Not feeling too great, but gonna work through the day. Depending how I'm feeling at the end I might want to go to the doctor after work."

"For your butt? Or something else?"

"The butt."

"Is it a work injury?"

"Technically. I'd just use my insurance, not dealing with OWCP again."

"The Backroads convenient care was good for my double ear infection."

"Yeah. I'm just never going to the Bill-Paying Town one again after all they screwed up. Don't trust them."

"Backroads has x-rays. Dad says you CANNOT mention ANYTHING about work, or insurance won't pay. All they need to know is that you fell on some steps. I have never heard of any treatment besides rest and a pillow."

"Yes. I'm not stupid. The main thing is just to see if it's broken or not, if it's not starting to feel better by tonight. The fall knocked the wind out of me, too, so I wouldn't be surprised if I have a bruise on my back from bouncing on it."

By 4:08, I got an update:

"Clocked out. Ibuprofen did enough that I'm fairly sure I'll be fine, not gonna go to the doctor."

Well. THAT was a relief. Kind of. What I didn't know at the time was the full story. Which made me question The Pony's declaration that he's not stupid...

"I had finished loading my LLV [Long Life Vehicle]. There were 3 new packages when I went in to get my stuff, so I was carrying them when I started down the steps from the loading dock. I don't know if the steps were slippery, or if I stepped too close to the edge, but my heel went off. I couldn't grab the handrail because it's bent from a truck hitting it with the ramp thing it lets down. So the rail is bent out sideways, and has a curve in it. I hit hard, and bounced down the steps on my back. One of the other CCAs was backing up to load, and saw me. He came over to ask if I was okay, and also another one who was out there said she'd got get the manager. By that time I was standing up, saying I was okay. But I went in to tell the manager, and she said she had to fill out a form."

By this time Hick was home, hearing the story.

"Well, yeah. Every employer has to fill out a form to cover their rumpus for a workplace injury."

"We even had to do it at school."

"So there's no way you could go to the doctor and say it wasn't work-related. There's documentation and witnesses that it WAS."

"But I don't have to claim it that way and file worker's comp."

"You don't have to file worker's comp, but you can't use your insurance, because it's a work injury. Insurance won't pay. And if that rail is really bent, that's a safety violation. They could be in big trouble for that."

 

"Dad. It's been that way for at least two years. The shop steward says she fell on those steps back then, and she thinks she has a permanent divot in her ass, she hit so hard!"

 

"Are they solid steps? Do they have the non-skid material?"

 

"They're a metal grid. The edges are solid, and they DO have the non-skid, but it's worn smooth."

 

"Well, if it's a grid, they're not required to have the non-skid."

Anyhoo... Friday morning at 5:00 a.m., The Pony said he was considering calling out, because his leg muscles hurt. In front of the hip, where you lift your leg to get into the bathtub or a vehicle. But since he was getting both Saturday and Sunday off, and it would interfere with his holiday pay if he missed, he decided to tough it out. He said he felt every bump from that LLV in his tailbone.

Sitting on a kitchen stool for supper Saturday also hurt The Pony's rumpus.

"I can't believe my tailbone even hurts while hanging off the back of the wooden stool!"

I'm sorry The Pony's rumpus is ailing, but I'm relieved that he can still work, and isn't in a lot of pain.