Double Duty. One Paycheck.

In which I get a free ride home, thanks to my employer

For the past six months I’ve had a little piece of paper hanging in my cubicle at work. It says:

Guaranteed Ride Home

Employees who ride the bus, carpool, vanpool, bike or walk to work on any given day are guaranteed a free ride home – via taxi – in the event of illness, emergency or unexpected overtime. There is a limit of 8 rides per year per employee; up to 60 miles per one way ride.

I’ve often looked at this little piece of paper and figured it was there in the event that my son got sick at daycare and needed to be taken home. While I was thankful for this service my company offered, I hoped that I’d never need to use it.

Monday while sitting at my desk just working and minding my business my foot started to feel a little odd. I kept working and minding my own business and my foot kept hurting.

I got up to use the bathroom and quickly realized my foot wasn’t working properly. There was no way I could even walk to the bathroom.

Crap.

How was I going to pick my son up from daycare?

How was I going to get us both home?

Especially with his latest trend of making me carry him.

How was I going to get to the restroom before I peed my pants?

I sat at my desk and wondered what I was going to with this situation. I thought that maybe my foot would get better. But it wasn’t. It was only getting worse. As I replayed the events of the day I remembered that I had tripped over an open drawer earlier. I started to get scared that I had broken my foot.

Crap. How what was I going to do?

I still needed to pee.

I called my husband at work and told him that he’d have to pick up Babboo from daycare today. This isn’t our typical method as I get off work much earlier then my husband. But dude, there was no way I could get myself and my toddler home.

It’s then that I looked up and saw the Guaranteed Ride Home manifesto on my wall. I hurriedly called my Human Resources department who then ordered a taxi to come and take me home.

I hopped down to the front of my building and waited for my white knight to arrive. Thankfully the taxi arrived in record time and I was home with my foot elevated and iced in no time at all (and I finally got to use the bathroom).

Holy cow, never have I been so thankful to my employer. While the taxi ride would have only cost me about $20, I would have probably never thought of getting one myself.

It’s the end of July and I only have 7 more guaranteed rides home. Here’s hoping I don’t have to use any more of them (either for myself or my kid) and here’s hoping my foot isn’t broken.

I’m off to see the doctor and get some x-rays taken.

So tell me, does your company offer anything like this? And have you ever had to use it?

Isabel is a pseudonym for this Seattle-based blogger. She’s been working since the day she realized soda and lip gloss weren’t free. Isabel became a mom in 2006 and continues to work full time, outside the home, since diapers and mortgages aren’t free either. You can read far too much about her personal life at hola,isabel.

If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for “Double duty. One paycheck.”, email Isabel at holaisabel [at] gmail.com.

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