Amy loses her maternity leave priveledges on this week’s episode of Superstore.
You know what’s worse than giving birth next to a dead woman? Giving birth next to a dead woman, then realizing you’ve got to go back to work the next day.
Look, we’ve never had a good track record when it comes to maternity leave and accommodating working mothers in this country, but Cloud 9 makes the bare minimum of six weeks look like some kind of Utopian sabbatical.
After Amy had a less-than-ideal birthing experience last week, this week the new mom finds out that the time off she was counting on has been revoked. It turns out when you hook up with a co-worker on a live-stream video that airs in every store around the world, the punishment is a brief suspension and a re-set time clock.
Amy’s 15 years at the company — time that would’ve guaranteed her a cushy maternity leave — have been erased. She’s basically a brand new hire which means she doesn’t get the perks of her old job.
Amy comes to work tired, in her pajamas, crying over coupons because of her out-of-control hormones, and leaking breast milk everywhere. She’s forced to pump in a utility closet while her co-worker completes his daily prayers. This is not the post-pregnancy experience that we’ve been promised ladies.
On the up-side, having Amy come back to work so soon after giving birth gives us a chance to see her blow-up at a well-meaning, completely-clueless Glenn. A lesson to every male manager at a big box department store: if you don’t want a woman to scream at you about the lining of her uterus shedding in clumps and how her ice-pack underwear is holding up her genitals, don’t make her come to work just days after labor.
While Amy’s telling Glenn to kill himself, Jonah and Garrett are realizing hiring seasonal help is a lot harder than they thought it would be. They make the mistake of hiring The Middle star Eden Sher who is just as annoying here as her character Sue Heck. Anyone who’s been in charge of bringing on new retail workers can identify with the guys’ plight, but trying to fix things by firing the girl and hiring a new guy who admitted to missing his interview because he was playing Fortnite isn’t a good look.
It was a welcome change to see America Ferrera get to express some frustration this episode. I’ve always thought Amy handled her bad luck in life a bit too calmly. She’s surrounded by incompetent, ignorant people and co-workers who she mothers more than manages. It was only fair she got the chance to blow-up at one of them, but I hope this maternity leave issue isn’t off the table for next week’s episode.
Sure, we mined some humor from Amy’s quick recovery, but if she’s still working next week with a newborn at home and breasts that need to be pumped every 20 minutes, that feels more sad than funny.