Monday, February 25, 2013

Amanda-Leigh and the Simple Truth About Employment



 In our nation’s history, strong literary female figures such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Louisa May Alcott, Susan B. Anthony, and several others paved the way for the success of our modern women. I did not feel Marjorie Worthington's biography provided a thorough look into the life of Louisa May Alcott. The central theme seemed to be debt. This young independent woman relied on her family to resuscitate her family from financial debt. L.M. provided the financial support her younger sister, May, needed to attend college abroad in Europe. At times, L.M. took care of an ailing mother and an older sister named named Anna who was legally deaf by modern standards. The importance of work ethics L.M. exhibited was one thing I was able to appreciate about the biography.

Last night, my husband received his two year gold chip in Celebrated Recovery. My husband has been out of the hospital for two years. I refuse to reflect on two years ago with my husband’s mental state of mind. I will, however, comment that my husband has advanced greatly over the past few months. My husband is seeing the psychiatrist he had during our college years. This has been beneficial to my husband’s mental health. The doctor has an established history of knowing how my husband reacts to medications. This relationship has also benefitted in our marriage. We have more stability than a year ago.

A year ago, my husband had to take the Greyhound bus to our state capitol just to receive treatment for his mental illness. This was not fair to my husband or our marriage. There is a small mental health clinic in our town but the counselors only have limited education. These people do not have Master’s or Doctorate degrees. The psychiatrist visits every once in awhile. My husband and I made the decision to deny services from the clinic. I am glad we were able to walk away instead of getting ourselves into a bad situation.

This morning I read in the Huffington Post where the Republican governor of South Dakota is trying to implement a program that will promote jobs for people with disabilities. This is not a reasonable move. In our world and especially with the condition of our economy, several groups of Americans are unable to find employment. Why should this Governor zone in on one group? Since this Governor is not a person with a disability, he has no idea what challenges we face with seeking employment. Granted, this Governor does bring an awareness that his parents were physically disabled. This awareness does not mean the Governor’s parents are actively employed in our modern time. This Governor does not spend hours with those of us who have cried over being turned down for jobs we are better qualified than the majority of candidates. We would not engage ourselves in white collar crimes the way some employers must deal with. We would not engage ourselves in social media scandals by posting pictures of us wearing raunchy clothes and behaving dumb. We are the ones who get overlooked too much by our world.

I will give this Governor credit where credit is due. I appreciate the Governor’s desire to promote jobs for people with disabilities. We do not appreciate being turned down because of our disabilities. We do not appreciate taking the time to get dressed up for a job interview only to be turned down for a candidate who did not take the time to care. We may seem bitter and full of self-pity. This is hardly the case. We know when we are not wanted and we refuse to let ourselves get hurt. We are missed opportunities, and this is exactly how we should feel about ourselves. We can do much better than sit around waiting on phone calls that never happen. We deserve to be appreciated, and this is one thing lacking from potential employers. We are not fully appreciated for taking the time to apply for a job and getting groomed nicely for our interviews. We are able to pull our weight and uphold our end of the bargain. Will this Governor’s proposed plan provide the other half from the employer? If not, the proposal is moot and will fail miserably in his society.   

Amanda-Leigh's Web Link for Monday:

Governor Pushed to Implement Job Programs for People with Disabilities
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/24/jobs-for-people-with-disabilities_n_2754163.html?1361732704&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009


   





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