^You're a good person for doing that for your brother and his dog. I hope the conversation goes well.
I'm at pretty much the end of the line with my job now. I found out that when I recently called in due to a huge snow storm which halted the buses and cabs for two full days (I don't have a car), the absence was counted against me. It shouldn't be a huge surprise to me, but it just reinforces that this company expects their employees to risk their fucking lives to come into work. When I started working there, it wasn't like this. They had monthly "food days" and if someone died they'd give us as much time as we needed off; friend, family member, pet, whatever. When my grandfather died I got warned for leaving work after talking to my father on the phone and finding out. Then they misplaced all the paperwork and I had to go through all the hoops again to make sure that I wouldn't be further disciplined for the rest of the time I missed for his funeral.
It's been almost 8 fucking years now. I should be given some form of respect there, but instead I just see that dwindling more and more. I've become convinced that the people that work in HR at my company aren't human at all. It's increasingly tempting to give my two weeks' notice, but I'm terrified of not having a job and being unsure of how long it would be until I could find something else.