The other day I was talking with my mom and she suggested I go to a local Publix to see if I could find a job there. Let me give you a little back story. I worked for a Publix ten years ago that had just opened up in the Cape Canaveral area at the time. Hell, I practically saw the construction of the shopping area from start to finish because it was right behind the apartment complex where I was living back then.
Soon after they opened up for business I applied for a job there and the manager who interviewed and hired me didn't like me much. I guess he didn't take to well to how I handled him jokingly accusing me of trying to take his bottle of Mountain Dew. Personally I don't see how pretending to accuse someone of theft is funny, but I digress.
So I went through all the usual far all us disabled bag boys go through. Shit wages. Shittier and unpredictable hours. Some days I was working 10 and 12 hour shifts and my back pain was horrible by the end of it. Micromanagement at the drop of a hat that got so bad I walked off the job. To this day I figure that was the manager's goal because he told me if I couldn't handle it to get another job. And that's exactly what I did, not that the next 2 jobs I had after that were any better. Rolling silverware and making sandwiches for troll customers...that was fun.
Anyway I explained to my mom it wouldn't do a whole lot of good to apply there and she said they get money for hiring folks with disabilities. That might be the case but that doesn't mean we'll stay on or will see any real opportunities in the company after the fact. She also went on to say not all managers are assholes. That's true, but in the world of shittier wages, most, if not all of them are. Show me one who isn't and I'll have a bridge to sell to you.
I'd like to hear some other stories of workplace abuses, because I'm sure they're much more common than the happy faces on corporate and placement websites and organizations want anyone to believe.
See you around,
Homer