It seems to be prevalent in our culture today, and a lot of it seems to originate from our jobs. People respond to job stress in different ways, some of them healthy and some not so healthy. One thing that helps me is exercise. When I run or cycle, I sometimes disassociate from the exertion and think about stuff. Sometimes I think deep thoughts about God and theology. At other times I think of the social upheaval and re-establishing of relationships on Gilligan's Island if the Brady Bunch joined the castaways.
Sometimes I think about work, and actually come up with creative solutions to problems or challenges. "Sick!" you may cry, but it is a peaceful resolution. On average, I come up with 1.7 solutions per mile. I should start running marathons.
Well, other people deal with jobs in, shall we say; an unhealthy way? From the July 9 Des Moine Register reporter Clark Kauffman reports that:
An Iowa judge has denied unemployment benefits to a man who claimed discrimination after being fired from an ethanol plant for drinking "automobile fuel" produced by the company. Cory Neddermeyer, 42, was fired in April from Amazing Energy in Denison, where he worked as a maintenance technician. The company produces ethanol fuel for vehicles in a formula that includes a high concentration of alcohol. Neddermeyer was fired after an April 21 incident at the Denison plant. According to Neddermeyer, he showed up for work that morning and saw that there had been a spill of fuel alcohol. Hundreds of gallons of 190-proof alcohol were contained in a 6-inch-deep holding pond that was about 30 feet by 24 feet.
It proved to be too much to resist for a recovering alocholic, and Neddermeyer
"..thought about the availability of this alcohol throughout the day. Curious about the taste and its effects, I dipped into this lake of liquor and drank what I considered to be 2 to 3 ounces. The next thing I remember is waking up in Crawford County Memorial Hospital."He had been found by his co-workers in an incoherent state, unable to say his name or the day of the week. He was taken to a hospital, where his blood-alcohol level, according to state records, was reported at 0.72 - nine times the legal limit for driving, and almost double the level that is considered potentially fatal for many adults.
How strong is 190-proof alcohol? "Proof" is twice the percentage of alcohol in a beverage. For example, a drink that is 40 percent alcohol would be 80 proof. Pure alcohol is 200 proof. Most American wine is 18 to 28 proof. The fuel-alcohol Cory Neddermeyer drank was 190 proof, or 95 percent alcohol. Neddermeyer was fired, and I'm still stunned that he was denied unemployment benefits, but he is getting 'help' for his addiction.
Or take the case of a man right here in Portland, Oregon who went to a hospital complaining of a headache was found to have 12 nails embedded in his skull from a suicide attempt with a nail gun, doctors say. Surgeons removed the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill, and the man survived with no serious lasting effects, according to a report on the medical oddity in the current issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.
The unidentified 33-year-old man was suicidal and high on methamphetamine last year when he fired the nails — up to 2 inches in length — into his head one by one. As reported through the Associated Press:
The nails were not visible when doctors first examined the man in the emergency room of an unidentified Oregon hospital a day later. Doctors were surprised when X-rays revealed six nails clustered between his right eye and ear, two below his right ear and four on the left side of his head. The man at first told doctors he had had a nail gun accident, but later admitted it was a suicide attempt.
I think I'll keep running.
