The growing culture of entitlement continues to rear its ugly head…
The Cook County Sheriff’s Department reported that more than 200 county jail employees called in sick on Mother’s Day. In addition to those employees, 154 more called in to say they wouldn’t be at work for the shift that began later in the day. Many invoked the Family Medical Leave Act, which provides the right for federal employees to miss work for medical reasons. Coincidently the weather also happened to be decent on Mother’s Day in Chicago. The shortage of staff caused the jails to go into lockdown, as there weren’t enough guards on duty.
This speaks volumes of the work ethic of Chicago’s correctional officers. Clearly, there is a huge disconnect among those correctional officers and what is acceptable behavior within the policies of the correctional department. Incompetence at that level doesn’t lend much confidence to a city riddled with crime.
Chicago is possibly the scariest city in the United States right now. It’s now completely normal to read about something horrible occurring in the streets of Chicago on a regular basis. The inner city seems to be eating itself alive and those charged with maintaining order in the jails don’t seem to care enough about their jobs to even make arrangements in advance when they want leave.
I’m reminded of those serving in the Armed Forces during the holidays. There is never a guarantee that time off will be granted for personnel who wish to celebrate special days with family. There are positions within the United States military that require service members to work shifts, much like correctional officers. As such, there are those who work during the weekends and through federal holidays. Calling in to let supervisors know they’re taking a day off is not an option for mission essential personnel. Without a serious medical affliction and doctor’s orders, skipping work would present serious consequences for those serving our country.
Not only that, many members find themselves deployed overseas, unable to celebrate with their families. Holidays and special occasions flow together as just another day away from home for them. Maybe they’ll get a few moments of video chatting during the brief moments when time zones cooperate for both sides of deployment, if they’re lucky.
When I read about things like Chicago’s correctional officers calling out sick for Mother’s Day, it disgusts me. These employees take so much for granted. Mother’s Day, while an important celebration, is not traditionally a holiday that would call for taking a whole day off, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Through almost daily reports from around the United States, it’s apparent that the work ethic held by citizens in this country as a whole has gone seriously downhill. People have even begun skipping work to attend protests, and expect to maintain job security because they were standing up for a cause. This thinking breeds entitlement and the next generation of workers see this example being set. It has now become perfectly acceptable to miss work and then file wrongful termination suits when action is taken against employees for not fulfilling their duties. Hopefully the actions of these irresponsible correctional officers doesn’t come with a backlash from those who are locked up.
