Yesterday, I resisted storming out of my job. I'm 5 months' pregnant, and have been working a full time cleaning job at a local (and fairly big) gym. I've had to change my routine to accomodate my growing belly, and that has apparantly left quite a few people unhappy. Instead of being able to vacuum/sweep and mop all the floors, clean all the mirrors and windows, wash down all 150+ machines head to toe, dust or wipe off surfaces, put equipment away and general tidy up, fill up the sterilizer bottles and paper towel and toilet paper, and use my spare time to do some once-monthly heavy cleaning jobs all in the space of 5 days at 6 hours a day, I've had to start alternating jobs.
Some jobs, like looking after the floors and doing a end-of-day spot check and fill up, get done every day. The cardio machines get wiped down every week, because they get DISGUSTING. Other than that, I have had to slow down considerably, start taking the breaks I am entitled to, and basically do all the glass one week and wipe down the weights machines and spin bikes the next week, etc etc.
My boss has been pretty understanding, I have to say. He's not bothered by my switch in tactics. I started off, according to many people who go to that gym, being the best cleaner that place has ever had. The problem is with the gym members who don't know me, or what is going on with me, and some of the other staff (all the 20-something men, go figure). It's gotten to where I can't seem to please anybody anymore. I can't even bend down without feeling the urge to either throw up or gasp for air, and bending over is included in half my tasks.
Enter, the Staff Communication Book.
This is where information and complaints (the operative word here) are passed on from staff to staff, or from members to staff. Apparantly, I don't get many complaints from members in person, but they are passing it along to the front desk staff, who are writing it to me in the book. This has become more and more common. Needless to say, it usually sours my day to hear how much I am falling behind according to the members. Nobody has said anything to me directly, mind you... that would be too considerate.
Yesterday, I started off the day in a fairly good mood, actually. Then, I read the book. In it, 3 staff members had taken 2 full notebook-sized pages to not only tell me what the members complained to them about, but also criticise my ability, and tell me that what I did was nothing special and that they could do it themselves (and probably do it better, according to them). This is of course without considering that they aren't doing my job while basically having a 15-pound medicine ball wedged between their skin and organs, and having to work with a pelvis that has separated early. And, I've kept doing all my work as best I can without complaining, and even keeping a smile on my face all the while.
I'd been working there for almost a year and a half, with mostly praise until I got to the point where I had to start accomodating my pregnancy. People still expect me to be able to work at the break-neck speed I used to, without taking a break in 6 hours. In the last 2 months, I've gone home and cried more often than I can count. I've had heart palpitations because of it, which start as soon as I get to work and stop when I leave for the day.
Yesterday was the last straw. So, on one of my breaks, I sobbingly called my prenatal doctor. He insisted that I go off on stress/ medical leave that is to lead into maternity leave.
So, now I have no safety net. I guess that's the universe's way of giving me the time I needed to get all my other plans into motion. Yeah, I think I will look at it that way- that silver lining is aweful bright.
“The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going beyond them to the impossible.” ~Arthur C. Clarke ...
