At least I have my dog; at least we all have each other; at least it wasn’t a complete loss; at least I have my health…. Is it because of the base-line of life’s fortunes that we may maintain our sanity and allow for hope to thrive? And if we were to ever lose the “at least” — is that when life becomes too unbearable to withstand, or will we simply find another replacement “at least”?
Take the following hypothetical: A tornado or other natural disaster destroys a home; everything is lost; the person who survived stands with his or her dog and says to the reporter, “At least I survived”. The next moment, the survivor suffers a heart attack and is bedridden for the rest of his remaining days. Once the “at least” was taken away, was there a replacement? Is the final “at least” the one which goes thus: “At least I am still alive”? And when that is taken away and silence follows, is that the answer to the question: Is there anything beyond the last “at least”?
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 job, the question of “at least” is an important one. For, when the medical condition strikes, the “at least” question is not: “At least I still have my health”, but might rather be, “At least I still have my job”.
It is the latter concern — when the medical condition begins to impact one’s ability and capacity to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job — that may lead to consideration in filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, ultimately leading to the further “at least” declaration: “At least I have my Federal Disability Retirement annuity.”
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
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Federal Disability Retirement Benefits: Toxic Associations
At some point, the “distancing” begins. First, a subtle move — not saying “hello”; not answering a phone call; avoiding the places where the usual meetings once took place.
Then, perhaps the prefatory denials: “We weren’t really friends” (an adverb to enhance the denial, but a form of grammatical insertion which is more telling when used than not applied at all); “Oh, I didn’t know him hardly at all”. And then the final nail to the coffin: “Who? The name is not familiar.” Well…how about these photographs which show that you were with him/her multiple times?
Toxic associations can range from the blatant to the subtle; but once the toxicity becomes apparent, the rats begin to abandon ship in droves.
Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition are often treated as such associations — “toxic” to the extent that they are looked upon as plague-filled individuals who are no longer a member of the “team”. When those allegedly toxic associations begin to be felt — of coworkers ignoring you; of supervisors looking at you with suspicion, etc., it is time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.
Your medical conditions are often viewed as contagious — not in terms of transmitting diseases, but in terms of no longer being useful to the Agency or the Postal service.
Contact a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits and begin to disassociate yourself from the toxic associations — theirs, not yours — and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Lawyer
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