Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: The Owl, the Chicken, and the Anomaly of Life

In the early morning hours as the peripheral light of the sun reaches the crest of the horizon, the insidious owl glides seamlessly and noiselessly above the tips of tree lines, and upon a slight movement, flutters a wing and swoops down.

In a second, the head of the injured chicken is severed; yet, without the connecting neurotransmitters guiding the body, the headless fowl persists in running, attempting to escape from the prey which has already been encountered.

Thus, civilization develops the adage:  running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  And that often describes the Federal or Postal employee who attempts to desperately put together a Federal Disability Retirement application and submit it to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Dealing with one’s medical conditions is stressful enough; attempting to wind through a Federal bureaucracy and the administrative obstacles of proving and establishing the nexus between one’s medical condition and the essential elements of one’s job, only compounds and complicates the process.

To further the analogy, the question is:  Who represents the owl — the Office of Personnel Management, or the entire Federal bureaucracy?  Or, moreover, while the owl flies away with the head, it is often the scavengers who come and feed upon the rest of the torso.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire