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A lot of disabled people want to do something. It makes them feel good. I know a relative of mine has MS and does direct selling. She likes doing it and seems more confident. She does it to supplement her disability payments.
I knew someone who came down with a disabling neuromuscular disease and was devastated when he could no longer work.
I saw a woman in at McDonalds sweeping floors. She had Down's Syndrome. She was smiling and loving every minute of it. It was good for the workers there too, because they seemed to admire her attitude.
The McDonalds, in a town where I used to live, hired quite a few mentally challenged individuals to do whatever jobs they were able to do. Gave them work, gave them purpose, and gave them paychecks.
I went there a lot - not because I like McDonalds or their food, but because I'll gladly patronize a business that's that good to handicapped people.
The McDonalds, in a town where I used to live, hired quite a few mentally challenged individuals to do whatever jobs they were able to do. Gave them work, gave them purpose, and gave them paychecks.
I went there a lot - not because I like McDonalds or their food, but because I'll gladly patronize a business that's that good to handicapped people.
Another friend of mine, who's in a wheelchair and mute, used to work at McDonald's, alongside her blind friend. They were such good workers that other locations in their town would often try to recruit them.
she did such a great job! She was a cashier, and was hard to make out what she was saying. She had a smile, worked so hard, and remembered me from two weeks prior. It literally brought a tear to my eye, that some one with such a disability would still go to work everyday, and be in good spirits. For all the phoniness, laziness, and excuse making in society today , this restored my faith in humanity for a day. Today was a good day!
How is 'today's society' any different from yesterday's society with the exception that people who are disabled are actually able to get around and work.
she did such a great job! She was a cashier, and was hard to make out what she was saying. She had a smile, worked so hard, and remembered me from two weeks prior. It literally brought a tear to my eye, that some one with such a disability would still go to work everyday, and be in good spirits. For all the phoniness, laziness, and excuse making in society today , this restored my faith in humanity for a day. Today was a good day!
I'm not going to read anything past your post.
I'm glad you had a great experience.
I didn't.
I ran in to Shop Rite (east coast grocery store) last week and the man bagging my groceries was...."----------" I'm not going to speculate on what his disability was. This store never has baggers, I didn't know to avoid the lines that did.
I spent $250 to get my eggs squashed, my (it was 2 days before my Easter) Peeps squashed FLAT, my chocolate Cadbury eggs squashed, my banannas squashed....come on. My raw chicken shoved in a bag with my ice cream....and when I got home I couldn't figure out what leaked out on what, so I had to toss 5lbs of chicken breast and a quart of Breyer's ice cream.
I'm glad he had a great day, but it didn't work for me.
What was I supposed to do? Should I have told him to be more careful? I kind of did and he kinda of spit off to the side (literally) ...and no one paid attention. Not the 21 year old cashier. I tried to take over and he didn't like it, so I took a step back...should I have stopped him? Called management on him? I didn't. Maybe I should have.
I didn't need to be forced in to this situation. This guy cost me a lot of money. I'm glad he felt good, and his proponents felt good for him (and I'm usually one of them) , but I was NOT happy.
His feeling good and getting out of wherever he lives cost me money I didn't want to donate right then and there.
Next time, I'll avoid the line with the "special bagger".
I'm sorry, I'm still pissed off.
I get the effort, I've seen it, I don't typically have an issue with it, it usually works...
I don't think people realize having cerebral palsy doesn't mean that you have below average intelligence.
I had a professor with CP,and she was intelligent.
In other words,normal,except she couldn't walk like we do. Her gait was slow.
I don't think people realize having cerebral palsy doesn't mean that you have below average intelligence.
I had a professor with CP,and she was intelligent.
In other words,normal,except she couldn't walk like we do. Her gait was slow.
Yeah, I think many people DO fail to realize that - as they do with many disabilities, such as MD, MS, blindness, deafness, etc. Nimchimpsky is one example, and I also thought of a girl who went to my middle/high school... she has Muscular Dystrophy, and was one of the top students in our (very competitive) college prep school. I think she's a lawyer now, or something along those lines. So her physical limitations sure haven't stopped her, and obviously her intelligence is well above average.
But regarding those with intellectual disabilities, a few people mentioned McDonald's... they and Safeway (among a few other businesses) are both terrific about offering chances to the disabled, and I know these jobs really give them a sense of purpose & independence.
I've been involved with Special Olympics for 20+ years, and have met some some truly inspiring people in that time. For example, there's this one man who has Down Syndrome, Autism, Diabetes, and is mostly blind - yet he takes the subway to his job at the Special Olympics office (in DC) every day. He does this all by himself, and is apparently never even tardy. Any time I start complaining about my own minor ailments, I only need to think of him to put myself in check.
I know someone with a disabling neuromuscular disease that makes her unable to lift anything heavier than a small cup of water and requires her to use a power chair to get around. She has assistants to help her shower and get dressed, but she is getting an education so that she can contribute to society in a wonderful way. She's getting not one, but two, graduate degrees. She works in a clinic. Who said anything about not being able to work?
If your friend wants to work, encourage him by letting him know that he can! There are jobs out there for anyone. When you have a severe physical limitation, you have to think creatively, but where there's a will, there's a way! He might have to gravitate towards a field that involves more thinking than doing, but I'm sure there is something he'll come up with if he truly wants it!
I have read and watched many heart warming stories about people, starting at a very young age, overcoming their handicaps because they believed anything is possible. I am curious about one thing: how are the people you know who are obtaining all these degrees paying for the higher education they receive?
One of my closest friends (and my boyfriend's lifelong best friend) has CP. He is of average intelligence and has one of the quickest wits I have ever heard.
However, he was abandoned as a toddler into the foster care system due to his illness, grew up in group homes, and was pretty much booted from the system at 18 like everyone else. At 28, he CANNOT work because that would risk losing his disability. With no one to drive him to and from work (he can navigate public transportation most days, but not all) and a very real fear of losing disability and health benefits that he needs to have a carer come into his home daily to help with things he can't do - like cooking, cleaning, and on his bad days, bathing. He has an associates degree but could not afford to get a 4 year degree because he knows very well that it's unlikely that he would ever be able to pay it back.
I feel incredibly frustrated by the situation. He writes amazing standup routines, writes songs with my boyfriend (and they play out in the Boston area), and has many friends, but he feels very unfulfilled. People look at him, see his disability, and immediately talk down to him. "Oh, how brave! You're out on the T!" or "Man, looking at you sing in front of a crowd makes me feel like I should do better with my life!" It's... ridiculous. Meanwhile, not one of those people would hire a person with CP for anything more than retail.
The majority of those I know who work through disabilities live with and are mostly supported by family. If you have no family (or an unsupportive family), it is insurmountably more difficult to succeed. That's why my friend says he knows a lot of people with physical disabilities (who he also met in the foster care system) who ended up being drug dealers. No one cares if their dealer has the shakes or is in a chair or crutches.
What it makes me think of is how sad it is that people with severe problems like that have to work to have health insurance when they should be taking care of themselves.
I have seen many people squandering their physical and mental ability to work, humans are lazy by nature. Our bodies work and evolved over millions of years to pick up what food you can as you go along, pig out whenever possible, and then be lazy.
That is not how modern man has made the world, and I'm not saying thats all bad, but it is not our nature.
But many of these people, elderly, were retired, etc, are having to work to pay for insurance and other things that they need to keep them alive. Working their entire lives up to the point of necessity isn't good enough, you've got to work beyond the bodies ability.
Good for her, but I doubt she is working to stay a useful member of society, she is working because if she doesn't, she'll die from lack of care.
Thank YOU!!!!! Great post and true!
WHY it should warm someone's heart to see people with disabilities/diseases or old age, working is ..is....NUTS!
If they want to fine. But most HAVE to because this country has lousy and expensive health care.
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