[nabs-l] Stop blaming the economy

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Joe and others,

Let me begin by restating that I agree with your assessment on this
topic. Having said that, I also know that finding or creating employment
isn't always easy. This doesn't mean I expect it to be easy; it
shouldn't be, but the most motivated, intelligent, talented people can
seek relentlessly for employment and not find it, or attempt creating
employment opportunities and not be able to drum up enough business. I
think there's several reasons for this though.

I find people are less likely to discriminate against me because of
blindness or doubt my abilities when I walk in with confidence and look
put together. I wear make-up, dress fashionably. I look at people when
they speak to me; I use hand and arm gestures when speaking; I smile and
try to be pleasant. People see me following social norms, looking
together. I use whatever nonvisual tools I can to accomplish things,
which actually helps me win over people instead of relying on those
around me for things I could do on my own. All this creates an aura for
people stating I'm capable; I'm normal. If I can look, dress and act
like those who aren't blind, they I can probably do fill in the blank. I
think how we conduct ourselves goes a long way in getting society to
accept us.

So sometimes we find ourselves on the outside because we expect so much
from others about accepting blindness, but we make our situation
uncomfortable for others. We want a job, feel entitled to one, but we
don't think we need to meet society half-way. Learn some grooming, pick
up a few fashion tips, follow some social customs, be confident, not
cocky. Right or wrong, employers look at the outward stuff and begin
making determinations right off the bat based on appearances. It may be
shallow, but it's reality.

I agree, Joe, that we should really discover what we want to do with our
life before spending thousands of dollars on an education that may not
help us towards our goals. If you really want to work with computers, a
liberal arts degree probably won't help. If you want to teach grammar
school, a philosophy degree may not be the best route. I am a huge
believer in taking time after high school to figure a few things out.
I'm not old, but trust me, once you hit your 30's, you will find you've
changed a bit since your 20's. College will always be there. You can go
at any time. Hell, I had classes with people in their 50's, some getting
their first degree. There's nothing wrong with taking time to discover
what you want in life. This doesn't mean you become a drifter and live
off society, but get a job, be involved in your community, even take a
couple of college classes, but what you want at 18, 19, 20, will most
likely change.

Having said that, when I said Ross has had problems finding jobs because
he's over-qualified, I mean that he's tried applying for these jobs just
to find something new while he finishes his second degree and not
switching careers to something he's over-qualified for. The sitch in a
nutshell is that Ross is finally going to school for what he originally
wanted to do, which is software development. Fifteen years ago, he
didn't think a blind person could be successful in the computer field,
so instead of pursuing his dream, he got a degree in psychology. There's
that changing your mind thing, ha-ha! He's worked in the human services
field for years now but hates it, especially his current job, which has
literally zero upward movement, the benefits are terrible and the pay
isn't great, and they have dumped extra work-loads on him the last few
years with no extra pay. He's applied for other human service jobs along
with jobs at Google and Yahoo, financial jobs and finally hotel
reservation agent jobs, telemarketing and even a fastfood manager. The
last couple of jobs, he was told he was over-qualified. The financial
job was ready to hire him, but HR questioned his ability because he was
blind. The other places didn't even give him an interview. So while he
finishes this degree, he continues to look for new employment until he
has the degree to work in the industry he wants too, but obviously it
hasn't been easy endeavor. I'm not being negative but portraying the
reality of the situation, hoping to demonstrate that this is how it is
for many people, blind and sighted.

As for me, I have my writing, but I love being a stay-at-home mom. We
are able to live on one income, and I can't imagine sending my son to
daycare. There's nothing wrong with daycare, I just made the personal
decision to stay at home. Stay-at-home parents work endlessly around the
clock, and as you point out, Joe, we actually have a lot of great
attributes that would be an asset to any employer. Taking care of
children and a home are hard work, but it's a job that I've found to be
the most rewarding. My point in my earlier post was that it can be
difficult for a former stay-at-home parent to find employment after
years of being out of the job market. If creative and crafty enough, you
may be able to convince an employer of your marketable skills from
experience of being at home, but not everyone may have the ability to
spin their experience this way.

I rarely bring blindness into the discussion because I see little reason
to do so. To be honest, I get tired of the entitlement many blind people
feel or the complaining blind people do. We are blind, life's not fair,
I can't do this, people treat me this way... Shut up, get off your but
and do something about it. I've been sighted and blind; I have lived in
both situations. Once I received my training, I made an active choice to
move on with life, and honestly, I haven't found life overly difficult
or tedious now that I'm blind. Yes, attitudes stink when it comes to
perceptions of blindness, but you know what, a lot of blind people are
perpetuating these perceptions. It's not like it's only sighted people
buying into negative attitudes. I've had more blind people doubt my
ability to parent than sighted people. At the end of the day though, we
are as capable. Like Joe said, blind people worked long before the
advent of current technology. And what's the Federation fighting for if
we keep making excuses as to why we aren't employed? I have personally
met blind lawyers, teachers, engineers, business owners, medical
doctors, blah, blah, blah. It would appear using blindness as an excuse
grows weaker and weaker.

And yet I know from personal experience how difficult the job search can
be. But to say it's blindness... I'm not sure we can use this excuse. I
don't look at this as a blind issue but as a human issue. And it's not
even necessarily the economy. There's two sides to every coin, and I
understand we can't make snap judgments or over-simplify the issue. I do
think blaming things in general just becomes an excuse to not do
something, but I also know there are hard-working people doing their
best, and sometimes we need to have a little understanding and
compassion.

Okay, running off little sleep and food. Started ranting a long time
ago. Sorry, grin.

Bridgit