When the similarites are too great

I love reading the Bulletin Board in the Pioneer Press. Here was a posting that caught my eye today:

Our times
In Search of a Pseudonym: "In the modern office environment, you will be worked until you are dead. In my small group of co-workers and companions, one carried a workload substantially higher than that of any of her coworkers, while reporting to an evil boss who undermined her every effort and degraded her at every turn, despite the fact that she was well-liked and well-respected by everyone else who worked with her; this continued until she voluntarily took early retirement. Since then, her blood pressure is down, her mood is up, and her weight is down. It's an amazing thing.
"Another co-worker is working 12-hour days and every weekend, trying to keep up with her workload and trying to cover for her incompetent coworkers and employees, all the while also trying to take care of her ailing, elderly mother, and somehow to also have a life.
"A friend is consistently working 60-to-80-hour weeks, and weekends, and when he says anything to his boss, his boss tells him to just do it.
"Of these three I mention, two are salaried, so no matter how much they work, they do not get paid more.
"Within my department, we have sent up the white flag to indicate that we are severely overcapacity and are drowning here. The response? We can set meetings over the lunch hour, earlier in the morning, and later in the evening. So this means that instead of the built-in 10-hour day that I already have, I can work more, but they will give us lunch. Then when they book us through lunch, it is like a reward.
"What is the point of it? I can see the people around me ready to snap. I can see them asking for help … nay, begging for it. I can see how you get held back if you do finally snap. And I can see people getting fired around me if they are not willing or able to live with this insanity.
"It is not just my employer, either. I hear the same stories from several places around town. What happened? How did the expectation go from 40 hours per week with benefits and vacation to 60 hours per week of double- and triple-booking, losing your vacation, never taking a lunch, and still slipping behind on the workload? How did the expectation become that you will never, ever be caught up, no matter how much you give?
"And you dare not complain about it, or you will be labeled a malcontent and made to suffer for it."
BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: We have no answers for you, Pseudonym — but, of course, we are willing (perhaps eager) to hear anyone else's answers … or anyone else's workplace horror stories.

This was too reminiscent of the place I used to work. Here is what I wrote to the Bulletin Board:

I just finished reading Pseudonym’s work horror story, and I could not help but wonder if the three people he/she mentioned were employed by my previous employer on Wabasha Street? The similarities were too great.
Last year when I was pregnant with my first child, I was working 10-12 hour days during my last trimester. I was so overworked that I developed hypertension and had to be put on bed rest a month and a half before my child was due. At no time before being put on bed rest had it been suggested that I cut back in my hours or workload. The stress I had endured was overwhelming. Needless to say, I am no longer working for that organization on Wabasha Street. I am currently due with my second child, and guess what?! I don’t have any hypertension issues to speak of; I am now entering my third trimester of my pregnancy and I have never felt better.
Perhaps I should be applauding my former employer for making me endure nine months of sheer hell while I was pregnant. Without having that experience, I would not be in the place that I am now. Thanks, Bulletin Board.
-Brody’s Mom in Inver Grove Heights

I had to say something. I just had to.