Five-Star Disability

Yesterday, I posted an old list of Myths regarding persons with disabilities in the work force.

I posed a question: Why do workers with disabilities actually work harder at a job than able-bodied workers.

Now I offer you my understanding of the reasons… Drumroll please…

The need to maintain gainful employment is the reason why Disabled Employees work harder than Able-Bodied workers.

Said Craig MacLean, unemployed & unemployable since 2017.

Really, it is that simple: if Kelly, a paraplegic, wheelchair user, works harder, is more efficient and gets more projects done, is sociable and friendly, has one blow up over someone eating their lunch, et al…
so basically all the good traits.
With such good performance and work habits, why would their employee fire them?

It doesn’t matter which disability Kelly has really, if they were fired or laid off; finding another job can be very challenging.

Dylan, the able-bodied worker, can usually jump from one job to another, especially when there is many job postings; it is easier for them.
– They started the year off flipping burgers at a McDonald’s, until they flipped the bird at a customer;
– Switched job titles to shelf-stocker at Walmart, became bored, putting things in wrong aisles, catsup does not get stocked in pet zone;
– Attempted to perform hard math as a HR Block tax expert during tax season, only to be fired due to writing a few extra zeros;
– Then, answered an ad about an Amazon job, only to be terminated for mixing up orders, apparently sending candy cane penises is frowned upon, especially when candy cane pens were ordered;
– Then, they found work as a flag person at a busy construction site, only to be, predictably, fired for causing a pile up with a Lexus and a Peterbilt leaving the site;
They try their luck as a telemarketer (heavy breathing, pranking), beer vendor at Canucks games (sampling), slaughterhouse worker (excessive and untrue bragging), DoorDash Driver (sampling, again), Sleep Country salesperson (excessive napping), Uber driver (no vehicle), and as of today, Santa Claus, fake beard and all!
That is 12 months of jobs…

That was a lot of fun creating Dylan’s job history. It is probably very untrue that a person could have so many different jobs within the span of 52 weeks but it is believable. The important thing is: They can jump from job to job with ease. Just as long as there are jobs to be had.

Whereas: Kelly, who worked as an ECE at a inner-city shelter; was fired in January, apparently driving over loaded diapers, then blaming someone else, is not exactly high praise material.
They were let go, the continued mess outweighed their strengths, and spent the next 10 months trying to find another job.
Kelly could have, and probably did, apply for all the jobs that Dylan did: but was not hired:
– McDonald’s has very tight workspace,
– Walmart already had a disabled greeter,
– HR Block was a perfect fit, if they could do hard math,
– Amazon went out of their way to hire Kelly, yet there was no bus service close to the plant,
– Did not try the construction gig, can’t see, chair is too low,
– Kelly did get a job as a telemarketer, but couldn’t make quota,
– Beer vendor was not tried either, stairs is why,
– Farmhand was passed over, mud is why,
– Sleep Country manager actually said “we don’t sell reclining beds,”
– Uber and DoorDash were not considered, kinda hard to pick up fares on the bus…
Kelly eventually found a job as an ECE at the the children’s hospital. This job fit perfectly, because they were working with kids who had same or similar conditions as themself. But they had to really and truly convince management that they could do the work, they could lift the baby, they could feed the toddler, they could change a diaper, they could read “The Hungry Caterpillar, they could assess behaviours and maintain control of the room, they could stop this run-on sentence.

I hope that you do understand, from my long-winded narrative, that persons with disabilities work harder at their job so they can KEEP their job. If they lose their job, it takes them a long time to find another job. And that is due to, barriers unforeseen and seen. Whereas, the able-bodied worker can switch jobs with ease, sometimes they have two or three jobs at the same time.

It was my dream to have two different jobs at the same time, and I did that only once, for 10 months in 2006, I actually worked at Zellers as a shelf stocker, while at nights I taught ASL at local college. I was fired from the first because I didn’t help, but stood gawking while the store manager, the regional manager, and some other higher-ups and colleagues, wrestled with a tower of crushed boxes that I extracted from the box crushing machine too early. I actually thought, I remember as clear as this overcast sky, “Too many cooks spoil the broth. I need to pee. Why bother, they got it under control.” One of those…

Anyways, thank you for your time, laughter, likes and shares, dollars would be great too!