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Happy (Upcoming) Valentines Day, dear readers!

As everyone knows, St. Valentine is the patron saint of chocolate makers and flower sellers, not to mention card manufacturers.  So, in honor of the festivities your humble blogger wants to provide you with a romantic and touching story from the archives – one to carry you into the happiness that’s coming just tomorrow.

So, before I begin this post, I want you to flip through the AMA Guides, the 1997 rating schedule, and even the PDRS: which page deals with a broken heart?

That was the question faced by the parties in the matter of M****** v. California Department of Transportation, a 1981 writ denied case.

Applicant filed an application after his romantic advances were rebuffed by a co-worker.   Things started getting heated at work, and not in the good way – applicant’s supervisor had to instruct both him and the subject of his unrequited love to keep away from each other unless work required interaction.

Why… yes… applicant was seen by a psychiatrist following his claim of a CT to the nervous system.  The psychiatrist reported applicant had a lifelong personality disorder, and had reacted with “anger, resentment, and rebellion” when his co-worker rejected him (your humble blogger just has to ask – HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO REACT?!? Obviously, this psychiatrist’s mind could comprehend a diagnosis, but his heart could not comprehend loooooooove.  Not that I’m bitter or anything…)

The psychiatrist further went to describe this as “a totally non-industrial situation.”  The WCJ found applicant to not have sustained an industrial injury, and the WCAB and Court of Appeal followed suit, rejecting applicant’s appeals.

We all have that one that got away.  For your humble blogger, it was a summer afternoon in 2001.  I had just gotten my license and driven to the local Krispy Crème.  As I waited in line, our eyes met, we knew we were meant for each other, then the guy in front of me ordered the last chocolate glazed donut and there I was, all alone in the world… that donut left a hole in my heart no pastry could ever fill… but such is life.

So, dear readers, enjoy your weekend – and remember, it’s better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all…