A Sympathetic Supervisor Helps A Worker Address His Irresponsible Drinking After A Broken Relationship

Barry got suspended from high school when he was sixteen years old and eventually found employment at a local truck assembly plant. For the last eight years he has gained a reputation as a diligent and hard-working person who infrequently takes off from work because of sickness.

Around nine months ago he started dating a young lady named Carol. They appeared to get along real well right away and gave people the impression that they had a lot of good times together.

When Barry met Carol, he rarely drank. This situation totally changed when Barry and Carol began seeing one another on a fairly regular basis. In fact, everything was going great until Carol without warning called Barry one night around 4 AM and said that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn't explain the reason at that moment.

The next morning before he went to work, Barry went to Carol's apartment and found out in an instant that Carol had already moved out. Barry took this exceedingly hard. Actually, he was taken aback because they seemed to be getting along so very well.

So what did Barry do about Carol's departure? Instead of working through his sorrow and pain, he started getting inebriated almost every night. It didn't take long for his pals at work and for his supervisor to notice that Barry was coming to work late at least three times per week and that he continually called off sick. Not only this but some of his co-workers made an appointment with staff in the HR Department and mentioned that Barry repeatedly came to work with a strong odor of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.

Barry's supervisor heard about all of this from Barry's co-workers and from Human Resources. So one Tuesday morning he invited Barry into his office. He told Barry that he had recently noticed a clear-cut change in his attendance, work performance, sick time, and in his behavior.

"Barry, I am not an expert about alcohol facts and I'm not particularly well-educated about alcoholism facts, but I have personally seen quite a few of my friends and relatives go through some really terrible difficulties because of their abusive and hazardous drinking. My suggestion is that you learn more facts about alcohol and what alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse can do to a person."

"Why is this significant? When people engage in hazardous and excessive drinking, their drinking problems not only negatively affect the alcohol abuser, but they also adversely impact her or his neighbors, co-workers, relatives, family, and friends. Barry, in sum, I would like to see you get some help for your irresponsible and hazardous drinking from our fine employee's assistance program."

Barry respected his boss quite a lot and as a result followed through with his recommendation the very next day when he called and scheduled an appointment with a therapist in the employee's assistance program. Although Barry didn't necessarily feel any better or less depressed about the sorrow he still has about Carol, he felt comfort knowing that his manager and his fellow employees cared about him and wanted what's best for him. This gave Barry some psychological relief for the first time in a number of weeks and he truthfully experienced some hope that he would get back on track with his life.