Workplace Survival: Maintaining Faith Through Life's Catastrophes

Workplace Survival is a true story of a "reckless" renovation. In 2005, I was diagnosed with "Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disease." I never had asthma, nor allergies and I never smoked, but I went to work healthy and ended up sick with lung disease. In a 1999 air quality report, it said that the internal appearance of the air-handling units appeared to be "in generally poor condition with many items requiring attention." But three years passed before any renovation work was done. After fourteen-and one-half years of employment with this government, I ended my career overnight due to "recklessness." It all started with the installation of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit (HVAe in a 1960s vintage anemic building. Many dangerous toxins were known to be in the building-lead, aluminum, chromium, asbestos, mold, dust, fiber, fungus and God only knows what else. The recklessness caused the dangerous poisons to come through the overhead vents in my office and into my airways and lungs that were injured. It was my faith in God that saw me through this horrific storm. I learned the place where I thought was my greatest downfall and defeat turned out to be the place of a new beginning with God.