Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Bob Herbert: The "right" to be sick

I have been lucky enough for most of my career to have the "right" to be sick. Most of my clients have been skilled nursing facilities or not for profits. The workers are responsible for taking care of our children, the disabled and our seniors. These are our caretakers. We leave people that we love in their capable hands.

Because of the low pay, they rely on overtime or another low paying job to pay their bills. This leads to fatigue, which leads to illnesses and injuries.

My daughter loved her job as a YMCA counselor. The kids loved her too. She learned at 20, to shelve her fulfilling job for one that pays better.

As we continue to age, it's highly likely that WE will have to rely on these folks to wipe our backsides. So why don't we take care of them now, so they will be happy to take care of us later.

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