Comp Days

There is some discussion upcoming at work about who should have to work Saturdays, or more specifically, who should be exempt from working Saturdays.

Currently it only comes up every 6 - 7 weeks in the rotation of our staff, and everyone is in the mix including all of the outpatient team (though only inpatients are seen on a Saturday), both managers, and our "flexi-pool", which is primarily people who had babies and didn't come back full-time. It's not a hard day as all you do is see patients (so no meetings, email, phone calls, etc) and you leave when your schedule is done, and in return you get an 8 hour comp day. Lately, though, a few of people who have been working for a long time are thinking about asking to be relieved from their place in the rotation for a number of reasons - it makes a long week, you get enough leave that you don't really need the comp time, older bodies have a harder time doing the more physical work (anyone over 40 is on the outpatient team except for the inpatient manager), etc.

I'd be more than happy to NOT work Saturdays. I like my down time and I have lots of paid days off, so the only reason to do it is because it's part of the way we work. But, I don't really think that using an age cut-off is the way to go as young pregnant women are working them, and young hungover women are work them, and young women who are less efficient because they haven't done the job very long are work them. I'm hoping that if there is a change in policy they base on it on length of service as an incentive plan (may I suggest 12 years?). I usually try to get out of mine by offering it up to anyone who may be looking for extra comp days, and usually someone takes them. A few weeks ago I couldn't find a taker though, so I spent a rainy Saturday hanging out with people who needed a little practice on things and requested my comp day for this past Friday.

It was so, so, so worth every second I spent on that Saturday fixing the talk.

My newly pregnant friend A. and I spent Friday driving to her sister's family place in a ski resort area outside of Charlottesville, VA. We left around 11 and chattered away for a couple of hours until we stopped for wine tasting and lunch at Barboursville winery, which is definitely my favorite in the area. After tasting 15 wines in their cozy tasting room we had a big fat lunch in their restaurant (lobster stew, frittata, hazelnut caramel tart), closing the place down. We stopped at one other winery down the road and bought chocolate wine and did a minor car repair.

We drove the rest of the way to the resort, getting to her family's completely charming home around 5:30. A. "took to her bed" and I watched basketball and worked a crossword. We went for burgers. We went to bed early.

The next day we ate a comically large breakfast then headed to the resort's spa. A. has been my driving force for all things luxury - she forced my 1st pedicure by leaving me a gift certificate before running away from the beach last year, and this time she booked us facials without telling me. I can't even explain how amazing an experience it was - totally indulgent but a life changer. We joined up again kind of greasy-haired and stole some Splenda from the lounge for our morning coffee before heading out for a long walk in the cool sun around the resort's lake. After a pizza and a lonnnnnng nap, our other friends who DID have to work on Saturday rolled in for dinner and drinks and conversation. We caught up on all kinds of things, work and non-work, and continued on through another fat leisurely breakfast this morning before heading back to NoVa in plenty of time for things like groceries and laundry.

Even though I'm getting up there compared to my younger colleagues, if working the occasional Saturday opens the door for long luxurious weekends, I'll do it. And I won't even complain.

Much.