another reason why my job sucks

It is no secret that I loathe, and I mean loathe in every sense that one can loathe, my job. It is mindless, slow, boring, the people are uninteresting and unfunny, and the office supplies aren't even that great. I have run out of things to look up on the internet, my mind is full of useless facts, and I have grown achingly tired of celebrity gossip. Yes, me, the celebrity gossip queen. I don't care anymore what Britney did or what Lindsay Lohan is smoking. I want some real work to do, and I don't want it to be outside of my 9 to 5 anymore. I am doing everything that I can at the moment to move beyond it, but between applying for grad school and every other job I can possibly find that would replace it, it is a painfully slow process.

When I left my old firm and came, due to circumstances beyond my control, I got a little bit of a raise. Unfortunately, it was the kind of raise that you don't see in your paycheck at all. One of the saving graces of work has been that at the very least, my insurance was decent, and I have the kind of job where I have money taken out of my paycheck each month which I can use pre-tax for medical expenses. This is wonderful for me, considering I don't make that much money, and I have to go to the doctor more than most for monitoring of medication I take for panic attacks. Oh, yeah, and p.s., that doctor's co-pay is a whole hell of a lot more than the $20 I pay everywhere else.

Here is why I hate my job today. Because I believe I was not properly made aware of protocol for insurance re-election at the beginning of the year, I missed open enrollment to have my flexible medical spending account. I realized this when I went to get a prescription refilled, they wanted $140.00 for it, and my benefits card wouldn't work.

I explained all of this to our benefits administrator, who I hope wakes up in the middle of the night with a sinking, hollow feeling of guilt for her lack of compassion or flexibility in assisting me with this issue. She, in addition to the contact I spoke with at the insurance company, couldn't help me in the slightest. Because it is three weeks into the year. And I didn't know any better.

I'm not an idiot. I am also a human being, and I deserve to have my medical needs met without undue financial strain. No one deserves to feel like they are going to be denied care, or medication, or that they will have to choose between groceries and medecine that is necessary for a healthy and happy quality of life.

This is another reason why I hate my job. And why something has to change in this country.