A comment

In response to my BLOG about the Rehab Techs being laid off, someone posted this comment.

Anonymous said...
The word menial bothers me. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=menial

Note: This is what that website said:
me·ni·al (mn-l, mnyl) adj.
1. Of or relating to work or a job regarded as servile.
2. Of, relating to, or appropriate for a servant.

n.
1. A servant, especially a domestic servant.
2. A person who has a servile or low nature.

The whole idea that one person's work is somehow more valuable than another's bothers me. Money and worth of a person should never be confused.
9/25/2004 02:07:28 AM

"They help us with menial jobs like photocopying and mail delivery."

I believe that is the sentence in that BLOG that prompted this person to comment.

And I'm not sure of the purpose of the comment. Was this person attempting to agree with me? Or to argue on a point? I don't quite know.

I must say though, I do AGREE with the comment. No one person is more valuable than another. And the idea that the techs would be laid of and the therapists kept on because the therapist's job is "more valuable" bothers me as well. I don't believe I gave the message in that BLOG that my work was more valuable than that of the techs. On the contrary, what I thought I said, and what I meant to say, was that they are/were an extremely important part of the rehab team, because no quality rehab department can efficiently function without a tech. And if you want to pick apart the offending sentence, the photocopying and mail delivery jobs are labled as menial, not the person carrying them out.

Reality is this, they did work at an unskilled job. They were not therapists. They had neither the education nor the training to function in that role. However, the role they did function in was a valuable one, and again, one vital to the running of a rehab department. No business of any kind can function without it's support staff. SOMEONE needs to do the "unskilled jobs," and it's foolish to think that a business can run without them. These persons doing these "unskilled jobs" are extremely important to the running of any business. THAT was my point.

The reason the thechs were laid off was because they were not seen as valuable because their time was not billable. The company/hospital did not make money off of their time. Personally I think that is wrong. Their time, efforts, and functions were valuable, and after only a week without them, we are severely missing their role.

Maybe I used the wrong word. Maybe not. Maybe this commenter was agreeing with me. I don't know.

If that particular commenter reads this BLOG again, I ask him to clarify the meaning behind his statement. If anyone else would like to offer an opinion, I welcome it.

In the meantime, the techs and the roles they filled, are being sorely missed.