Those are excellent suggestions, but I don't think it'll work in my given situation.
- Putting a poster on my wall. Nearest wall is 6 feet away - this is an open office. I tried putting a note on the back of my monitor, emailing everyone to let them know I'd be unavailable, snapping at them when they don't pay attention to either, etc. People shout across the room. "Sarah! I need you to look at something!" "Sarah! I see a doggy!" "Sarah! What's that!" I point out to them that I was concentrating and they shout "Sorry". Lather rinse repeat every 10 minutes or so. Then I get repremanded by the boss for being unavailable for questions.
- Epsom salt really doesn't do much for the aches and pains so much as the hot water. Bath additives make me break out in hives, so I really can't use them. Actually, anything but ivory soap in the tub usually causes a problem.
- Contract? HA! I think my job requirements are as follows: Show up for work when I tell you and do what I tell you, or you'll be homeless again. If I don't cover for people the shit rolls back on me. I cc my boss any memos or emails of problems that I inform the co-workers about, and she promises to deal with it, but never does. We actually have one ex-employee who is collecting unemployment because although she was told on numerous occassions that she was doing things wrong or against procedure she was never reprimanded and told that she could be fired and therefore is eligible for unemployment.
- I fill it out as terrible because it's a waste of time at this job. Any other job, I'd be more honest. So I check off all the little "poor" boxes, and don't bother filiing out the two-page essay. I have better things to be doing... like babysitting my co-workers.
- High heels...Actually, it really does help. I'm 5'4" with the heels. My clients average about 6'2". I'm tired of being called "little" and "tiny" by these guys. My psychiatrist also recommended them because they force me to adopt a shorter stride and thereby force me to slow down a bit. I have bad knees to begin with and they'll both need to be replaced within the next ten years or so, so I really don't care what it's doing to my knees. The pain is manageable since its minor compared to the pinching in my back and the pain from the carpal tunnel.
- Marriage and kids? I'd rather just survive the life I have already. The boyfriend is a convenient excuse not to date. There really isn't any form of relationship there. Hell, I don't even think we qualify as friends. Besides, I'm not all that thrilled with ending up a single welfare mother living in a shelter.
Unfortunately, when the people around me make mistakes, I'm the one who ends up fixing them and dealing with the aftermath. It's not about appreciation. When I had a small breakdown last year and wasn't able to deal with anything - much less come into work, we lost three big clients and the business almost shut down. I ended up getting a $25,000 personal loan and giving it to the company to try to save it. I can't find another job so if the company shuts down, I'm back to sleeping under bridges.
What it comes down to is a couple of things: force my co-workers to start being more accountable for themselves without any help from my boss (since she doesn't give it anyway), continue to look for another job without success, or go back to where I was 10 years ago. I've been at option number two for about three years now.