Under The Knife
A good friend of mine had trouble keeping work due to his mental illness. He had very mild autism and was fully competent but couldn’t navigate the politics of most jobs. He was on unemployment while between jobs, and he really relied on it. As part of that, he had to attend regular appointments, talk about what interviews he had, etc. One day, he missed an appointment because he was rushed to the hospital.
At the time of the appointment, he was lying on a table having surgery. He called the unemployment office to try and explain the situation—but the person there couldn’t care less. They told him that since he hadn’t given two days’ notice that he was going to miss an appointment, he was cut off for good. Meanwhile, two days earlier, he wasn’t aware of any issues, let alone ones that needed surgery!