Bangladeshi Woman Rescued After 17 Days Buried in the Rubble Told to “Get Back to Work!”

Only 1 in 10,000 Bangladeshi railroad switchmen actually make it to retirement.

Bangladeshi rescuers pulled a garment worker alive from the rubble of a building 17 days after the collapse and immediately ordered her back to work. Referring to her time buried alive as “17 days unauthorized vacation”,  the garment factory she works for transferred her to another facility to begin paying off the time.  The rescued woman who goes by the single name of Reshma told reporters as she was transported by ambulance to her new job that she already works 20 hours a day for 15 cents an hour. 

“Thank goodness for the raise, else I’d never pay off my vacation time,” 

she praised her good fortune. “I was saving up for a last name but, hey, 

shit happens! That’s what savings are for.” Management that’s currently 

not incarcerated declined interviews, but did issue a statement, which said 

in part, “Looks like Reshma’s going to be putting in some serious overtime for a while.”

Ironically, Reshma suffered fewer injuries being buried alive than she normally suffers on the job. The seamstress told a local Bangladeshi television station that she stayed alive by drinking bottles of water scattered in the rubble and eating dried food from the backpacks of the deceased.  Local authorities in turn charged Reshma with thief of private property and ordered her to fully reimburse the survivors of the dead relatives and the building owners. “We refuse to turn a blind eye to this kind of blatant theft. What kind of society would that make us?” said a law enforcement official that declined to be identified.

It has also been reported that government rescuers will be reimbursed for pulling Reshma from the debris. When informed that her health care coverage did not cover "rescues", she replied incredulously, "What? I have health care?" 

Reshma said she was anxious to start in her new dead-end position at the death trap across town in Dhaka to begin paying off her massive debt. “The Americans depend on me to provide them with cheaply priced clothing to perpetuate the illusion that inflation is flat. I can’t let them down!” she said. And even though her 17-day vacation left her less rested and refreshed than she might have wished, she declared, “It was still better than a Carnival Cruise.”