A vignette from my visit Monday morning to College Cleaners, on the premises of the Lebanon Co-op Food Store:Me (to nice young woman behind counter with very flushed-looking cheeks): Hi, how are you?
She: You don't want to know.
Me: Really? Why?
She: I should really be at the hospital.
Me: Seriously? How come?
She: Well, I'm in so much pain that my eyes are crossing, and I am expecting.
Turns out she was 14 weeks pregnant and in dire pain. I told her to close the store immediately and proceed directly to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, a two-minute ride away. She said that Pat, the woman who usually works there, got fired last week for refusing to stay past the end of her shift. (Apparently the next person didn't show up.) She said she would call the boss and tell her to find a replacement -- adding that she already has a five-year-old (implying that risking a miscarriage was better than losing her job).
When I got to my office around 45 minutes later, I called to see if the employee was still there. She was.
I don't know how it turned out -- in the end, both I and the folks I contacted at the Co-op did not want to get involved lest the cleaners fire the employee for complaining to a customer. I can promise, though, that if I find out the poor woman had a miscarriage -- or suffered any adverse work consequences -- the resulting publicity will be very unpleasant for the business in question.
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