What I have started to resent is that people with kids call in to stay home with a sick kid, leave early to go to this or that, to take their kids here and there. It really gets old when you're trying to get some work done. In fact it may necessitate a mental health day or a mental health afternoon from time to time
Now you're ranting my rant. Yes, "parents" can absent themselves at the drop of a hat. Kid sick at school? Bye-bye.
Kid sick at home? Not coming in. And the County even has a special code for the parent to use when accounting for the missed day. The parent gets paid but doesn't lose any personal leave or sick leave. It's a special cache of leave for "parents."
I don't begrudge parents this perk. I begrudge the employer for not offering something in kind to non-parents.
But then, as a single man, I've been railing at "the system" for decades. My primary beef when I was on active duty in the Navy, and assigned stateside or in Europe, my allowance for quarters (a special allowance for renting/maintaining a residence) was half that of a married man/woman. Yet...the married military person gets credit only for one dependent...whether he has just a wife or a wife and 20 kids, his allowance is the same -- TWICE mine, even though he and his wife can live in a one-bedroom as easily as I can.
In fact, single-bedroom units in many cities during the 80s and 90s were only available in more modern complexes...and were, ultimately, more expensive to rent than a 2- or 3-bedroom house.
And don't get me started on being taken advantage of BECAUSE I was single. WHO do you think worked EVERY Christmas eve and Christmas day, virtually alone for 10 hours? Yep, me and one or two other single souls. After all, what could we possibly have to do on Christmas which is, AFTER ALL, for the KIDS? (I had invitations to homes for dinner and supper...for Christmas Eve sleepovers....to spend time with families that made me a part of their lives...to enjoy watching their kids get up and open presents). No...as long as there were single sailors around, all the married folks NEVER had to work a single holiday!
AND when someone's kid had a birthday or a graduation or a sporting event or a performance/recital...who got the privilege of covering/working extra hours for them? The SINGLE sailor, that's who. Well, they could ask Bill or Tom to do it, but their wives and kids are waiting for them at home to eat dinner.
Oh, well....