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> So my mother said that our household policy would henceforth be: "if something explodes out there, nobody answers the phone!" So if you had family that neede
by inetknght 2y ago
> So my mother said that our household policy would henceforth be: "if something explodes out there, nobody answers the phone!"
So if you had family that needed your immediate help, they would not receive it?
That's indeed a perverse incentive.
- AStonesThrow 2y agoI'm unsure how this got flipped turned upside-down, but this was Mom asserting boundaries to Dad's work-life balance. The central controversy of on-call duty is that it leaves the household and family short-staffed, contributing to burnout and "workaholism". We were accustomed to Dad being at work M-F, 9-5, and being available and supporting us at all other times. While a boiler explosion is certainly exceptional circumstances, it can be the "camel's nose in the tent" and eventually, Dad is potentially driving up there every Saturday night that a lab worker spilled 1 gram of mercury. Then he's not eating dinner with us, resting, mowing the lawn, helping Mom to shop or do errands. I'm trying to recall any times Dad responded to a family emergency by leaving work, but it was nearly never necessary, since preparedness and response plans defined his career.