Being Flexible

I am a flexible person and that really comes in handy in my work. There are five workers in my unit, although a sixth is being added and interviews are being held next week. Yaaayyyy. Out of the five we have, one is on three month family medical leave for adopting a baby. Because of the specialized work we do, the other four of us are absorbing her caseload instead of parcelling it out to other workers in the building. Another worker was off all this week because her father passed away. It seems like every crisis possible hit this week while we were short handed. I was asked to fly to Dallas to pick up a child that had to be out of his placement on Friday. We had no placement for him when I flew out at 1:50 Friday afternoon. The plan was to meet him at DFW(a staff member from his placement in Fort Worth was bringing him to the airport) and bring him back to Lubbock. We should have been home by 6:00. I get to DFW and they aren't there. Come to find out, because DFW is so big, we were at different gates. My supervisor called and said we had found a placement in Fort Worth, very near to where he had been placed. When I finally found the child, rented a car and transported him to his new placement, it was too late to get a flight back to Lubbock. The last flight was booked. I found a hotel that only charged me four dollars over the state rate. There was a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom (heaven) and a business center. Unfortunately the business center was closed, so I couldn't access the Internet. Man, I've got to get a laptop. My good friend, Ron, told me to pack my toothbrush as I've been stranded in Tyler overnight before. But, me being me, I didn't listen. Thank goodness, the hotel gave me a toothbrush, toothpaste and deoderant. All turned out well and after only an hour delay coming back, I did make it home by noon Saturday. I love my job.