OPM Disability Retirement Law: Of the Bad Today

One often pauses in today’s climate and asks, Is it worse, today?  Is the “badness” more prevalent today than in epochs past?

Then, the pause and the question itself must be contextually “filled in”, like the gravedigger who digs a rectangular hole but stops and asks the absurd question, “What if there is no body today?”  Then, of course, you are digging a hole just to dig a hole, and the entire context and purpose suddenly disappears.  So, what is the context?  Well, for starters, Worse in what way?  And worse, for whom?

Certainly, if you were in prison at Auschwitz in 1944, there is no comparison worth making.  Or, if you were a Native American forced from your ancestral home to march the Trail of Tears, or an American soldier on the Bataan Death March in 1942 — surely, the “badness” perpetrated upon those people (answering the 2 questions, For Whom? and, Worse in What Way?) cannot compare to today?

And, in retrospect, it may be that America reached its pinnacle as a world power sometime during the 2 decades after WWII; for, surely there was no greater world dominance than the American specter following the Allied Victory against both Japan and Germany?

But even then — of the 1950s and early 1960s, the question still looms, For Whom?  Many African Americans who fought bravely in WWII thought that, having faithfully served their country against the forces of fascism and Germany’s genocidal racism against the Jewish population, surely — this time — things were going to change “back home”?

But no, they found that the post-war economic boom was not all inclusive, and that they would have to fight not only Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, but within the borders of their own country, just to reach some status of equality.  And so we turn full circle and ask, Of the Bad Today, was it ever this bad?  Well, it depends….

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition where that medical condition no longer allows you to to continue in your Federal or Postal career, the Bad of Today has been your chronic and debilitating medical condition, and yes, it is worse than the Bad of Yesterday — if only because you are no longer the young and healthy whippersnapper you once were.

Contact a FERS attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let not the Bad Today extend into the badder of tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Disability Retirement: Short Memories

It is good that we have short memories — or choose to, by not studying history.

Why did Hobbes characterize Man’s life as being “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”, if there wasn’t some grain of truth to it?  Yes, it was a description of man in his natural and mythological “state of war” before the protective walls of government were formed; yet, even in modernity, a short look at the war in Ukraine reveals how fragile is the line between civilization and barbarism.

It is with the tool of short memories which allows for the armament industry to refer to patriotism and national pride; and it is by shuttling aside our wounded young men and women that we can continue to engage in lost causes and endless wars.  The lessons of history are never strong enough to counter the appeal to do it “better” or “right” the next time, and so the short memories we posses become the fodder for tomorrow’s persuasion.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition, and believe that human empathy and compassion by bureaucracies ever existed in the history of the universe, short memories will likely get you into trouble.

Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit which is available if your medical condition prevents you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your job, but if you think that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — the agency which makes a decision on all FERS Disability Retirement applications — will simply grant you your request without a fight, then your short memory will likely result in a Denial at the First Stage of the process.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let not your short memory be the downfall of an otherwise viable case for Federal or Postal Disability Retirement benefits.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Retirement: The Age of Folly

The Age of Folly is in contrast to the Age of Reason, the Age of Discontent, the Age of Serious Wonder, the Age of ….  But of modernity: We live in the Age of Folly.

A recent Wall Street Journal article spoke about ways to try and interest a child who is a “gamer” to read books — an endeavor which, in former times, would have been a “given”.  Entice him with books of action!  Try and find books which cater to his interests!  Really?  How about: Books represent the richness of our culture; they open the pathway to a successful life; they expose us to a world beyond, and educate us about the world in which we abide.  Perhaps, restricting “game time” and saying “No” to the child’s every want is the better first step.

Time was, not so long ago, that we had a shared set of values — through the common reading of great works.  Can a city kid have empathy for farmers who struggle?  Yes, because we all read Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath.  Does a Midwestern Farmer have any knowledge about fishermen?  Yes, because we all read Hemingway’s, The Old Man and the Sea.  Did the Northerner have any idea about the South?  Yes, because we all read Faulkner.  And did the Southerner know anything about their Northern neighbors?  Yes, because we all read F. Scott Fitzgerald.

But we no longer read.  And so we live in the Age of Folly, lost in our Smartphones, forever brandishing opinions on Facebook, Twitter and Social Media.  That is often how Federal and Postal employees who struggle with a medical condition feel about the lack of empathy by their coworkers and supervisors — an Age of Folly where empathy no longer exists, and the attitude is one of:  So what?

Consider preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, and get away from the Age of Folly where others seem to have absolutely no understanding of your life, your situation or your problems beyond the nose extending 2 inches from the flat surface of their faces.  Contact a retirement attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and perhaps you will be able to escape this cauldron entitled, The Age of Folly.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal and Postal Employee Disability Retirement Law: At Its Worst

We can all be at our best — so long as we are never tested.  We can talk, and talk some more, about what we “would have done” had we been in such-and-such situation.  And since we relegate our military to men and women who are the economically-disadvantaged — instead of a draft which would impact all sectors of society — we can talk endlessly about what we “would have done” if we were in this situation or that.

We can say we will never do X — until we are actually confronted with the circumstances which constitute X; and a person can give a vow, have children based upon that vow, and years later renounce the vow without blinking an eye.  “Well, we drifted apart”; “The circumstances changed”; “He/she didn’t want to be married anymore” — and on and on.  But what about the vow?  Silence.

The test of virtue is not mere words; rather, it is the actions which result from actual circumstances encountered.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, you may have seen your Agency or the Postal Service at its best — because nothing has tested its response to what you are going through.

Unfortunately, experience has taught that Federal Agencies and the Postal Service reveal their true character when confronted with an issue at its worst — such as treating an individual who needs to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS.

Don’t be foolish and assume your Agency or the Postal Facility will respond and treat you the same as when things were going smoothly and everyone was at their best, for such is not the test of character; it is when things are at its worst when the true test is applied.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Disability Retirement: Off on a Tangent

It can be done inadvertently, without malice, and often unintentionally — and so long as one remains within the insular world of language, no harm occurs in most instances, in most circumstances.

Of course, to literally go off on a tangent — if you are walking in the wilderness without a compass; out in the deep sea in a small skiff; wandering about in a neighborhood known for drive-by shootings — can be quite another thing.

But for the most part, when we say that “So-and-so often goes off on a tangent” or “Sally has a tendency to go off on tangents”, we merely mean that the focus of the conversation, the content of the primary narrative, the point of the lecture being given, etc., the central idea, theme or point of someone’s statement, discussion “talk”, etc. is being waylaid by some divergent, often irrelevant side-show.

It is like a movie badly edited — you know, those scenes which often are “extras” which were taken out because of time-constraints or creative doubt as to their relevance to the story.  Or, sometimes people go off on tangents for a reason — deliberately and with intent — as when you want to divert the focus of the narrative away from the main point, precisely because the main point is not a very strong one to begin with.

In a Federal Disability Retirement case, this can happen on both sides — from OPM’s side, going off on a tangent can mean that they do not want to focus upon the medical reports and records, but instead want to deny you based upon tangential issues of performance ratings, conducts issues, accommodation offers, etc., as opposed to focusing upon the main point of a Federal Disability Retirement application: Your medical conditions.  Or, from the perspective of the applicant — the Federal or Postal employee filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits — of irrelevant background, or on issues which may actually weaken and harm a case.

Contact an OPM Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and make sure that you remain focused on the centrality of the multi-faceted issues presented in a Federal Disability Retirement case, and not on irrelevant issues by going off on a tangent.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer specializing exclusively on Federal Disability Retirement Law

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: The Photograph of Yourself

There is something different that occurs when a person sees a photograph of him/herself.  Of seeing a stranger, there is little that is stirred; of a friend, perhaps a slight nudge; of family members, parents, siblings — past memories come alive, scents are sharpened, the context of the photograph is yearned for.

Then, the encounter with the self — of a former image, a vestige, a residue; and of memories that come into focus with greater clarity.  The scent of that moment; the laughter or tears that are remembered; perhaps a mourning for that someone who was captured for a brief moment in time, bundled up into a complicated ball of emotions forgotten, a future yet unknown, and promises made and left broken.  We all yearn and mourn for what once was, what could have been, and the years which have passed by that can never be returned.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the time before the illness, accident or onset of a medical disability is like seeing one’s own photograph of a time before: It cannot be recaptured, but only remembered.

Consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and consider filing for a benefits that allows for recuperating back somewhat to a time “before” — of that photograph of yourself.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement for Federal & Postal Workers: Lost Paradise

We all have a notion of it; for some, it may just be a memory of a day at the beach; for others, somewhere in the recesses of a childhood memory; and for others still, the reality of a time before an illness, the rise of a medical condition or even of that moment when a doctor declared a diagnosis.

Paradise itself is a relative term; it engenders images of perfection and pleasure; of endless joy and a state of eternal mirth; or even of a negation of sorts.  For, if a person lives in constant agony, doesn’t it stand to reason that the negation of that agony would represent a paradise of sorts, and the loss of that state of happiness occurred because of the existence of whatever created that state of agony?

One who burns in hell would consider a momentary cessation of the agony of eternal torture to be a slice of paradise, and the lost paradise no more than regretting the sins committed.  We rarely consider the greater good as that which we take for granted, and that is why when we are confronted with the hypothetical proposition of “3 wishes to be granted by a genie”, we jump to material goods or conditions of physical pleasure, unlimited wealth or a time of perpetual joy.

Rarely do we include the wish for good health when we already enjoy it, precisely because the paradise one lives in, until lost, is assumed as eternally granted.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the lost paradise of good health no longer allows for continuation in one’s Federal or Postal career, it may be time to consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes exclusively in Federal Disability Retirement Law in order to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.

Don’t let the lost paradise of former days extinguish a future of hope and betterment; for, the mythological state of a paradise lost need not be a perpetual state of dread and dismay.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Injured Federal & Postal Employees: “What should I be doing?”

It is a query that applies to so many aspects of a successful life; of an endeavor or a pursuit; of preparing the steps in order to attain a level of perfection.  Curiosity and the desire to improve are the ingredients of success; the lack of either or both will often leave one behind as others progress.

The runner who wants to shave off a fraction of a second; the “expert” in a given field who desires to comprehend the next level of complexity; the business owner who strives to avoid the fickle nature of a purchasing public in order to expand; they all begin with the question, “What should I be doing?”

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the question concerning preparing an effective Federal Employee OPM Disability Retirement application may have already entered into the fray.

The question following when that arrival point comes near is: “What should I be doing?”  The answer: Consult with an Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.  For, in the end, that very question will lead to building the proper foundation for a successful outcome in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, and it is those preparatory steps which will often make all the difference between success or failure.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement under FERS: The Inconsequential

In the annals of history, most of us remain as the inconsequential.  Not even a footnote, nor even a passing reference, we are lumped into generations of third-person subjects unnamed and faceless.  We might read, for instance, that during the “Sixties” or “Seventies” (or beyond), this group of people or that community of individuals did X or participated in Y, and we might say to ourselves, “Oh, that is a reference to my generation”.  Yet, as an individual, it is rare to be identified by name.

History always fails to recognize the inconsequential; except, perhaps, by memory of relatives and faded photographs barely remembered in gatherings where old folks once chattered about this or that person whose absence emphasizes the starkness of the inconsequential.

Is that what many of us fear?  Not just about being ignored; and perhaps not even of leaving this world without a mark of recollection; but of being one of the inconsequential within a mass populace of unknown graves, unmarked but for those faded memories of vestiges in whispered conversations once echoing down the forgotten chambers of time.

And of that place where we toiled for a decade or more — where so much time was spent, so much effort and expenditure of labor: The workplace.  Once we are gone, will we even be remembered?  Will a fellow worker say, years hence, “Oh, remember that guy who…?”

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the fear of becoming one of the “inconsequential” is often what makes the Federal or Postal worker pause before considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

But just remember this: There is life after work, and whatever “consequential” work you believe you contributed to the Federal Agency or the Postal Service, there is nothing that cannot be replaced, and the greater consequence of failing to attend to one’s health is what makes for the inconsequential to loom larger with greater consequences down the road.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Disability: When reality exceeds the nightmare

At what point do we describe a dream as merely a dream, and not a nightmare, and does the contrast between the two as set in comparative standing against one’s daily reality change the equation at all? Are some people more able to tolerate greater tumult of images ensconced within the framework of the “inner eye” that receives the moving reels of dreams, nightmares and memories? Is there a connection between reality and dreams, reality and nightmares, and dreams and nightmares?

If one can maneuver with greater functionality in the reality of the objective world, does it manifest an indicator of greater capacity to withstand and travel through the detours of subjective consciousness depicting dreams and nightmares? Does the ability to remember dreams or nightmares make a difference, as well? Is rumination, obsessive recollection, screaming nights from images perpetrated by past experiences – i.e., war-time images diagnosed as PTSD or other traumatic events that cannot be compartmentalized or otherwise set aside – a symptom of a fragile ego too sensitive to tolerate for some?

Is a nightmare an expiation of the unworkable problems of daily life, such that the subconscious mind is attempting to sort and sift so that greater survivability can be achieved upon awakening from the slumber of sleepless sleep? Is a person who experiences constant and relentless nightmares, who wakes up just as exhausted because of the reliving of the experiences of prior trauma, actually asleep, or does the conceptual paradigm of “being asleep” necessarily include attaining a restorative plateau of rest?

It is, indeed, a complex interaction between the tripartite components of our daily experiences, both subjective and objective.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a reality which exceeds the nightmare, but more importantly, that dashes the dreams – both in the real sense of a dream while asleep, as well as the figurative dream in the sense of hope for the future – that paves the pathway for future anticipation, it is always important to balance the spectrum and pendulum between the deteriorating medical condition one suffers from, against the dreams one experiences, and contrast them against the nightmare of daily agony and the sleepless nightmares that awaken one with sweats and pools of angst.

Preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted and waited upon with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, can sometimes appear to be in the “nightmare” category; but for those Federal and Postal employees who have to file such an animal, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the objective reality is that the medical conditions themselves already constitute a tumultuous reality that exceeds any nightmare conceived, and that is precisely why it becomes time for the Federal or Postal employee to prepare, formulate and file an effective OPM Disability Retirement application because, when reality exceeds the nightmare, it is time to wake up and tackle the monster of reality in order to be able to return to a restful slumber where dreams bring a smile upon the grimacing lips that shy away from nightmares.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire