Thanks John for that bit of motivation. I too have been fortunate to be employed in IT work for over 30 years but I also have found it to be complacent at times and probably have not obtained further benefits I could have. Well, there is always time to get more motivated and work harder, learn more and do whatever to enhance my marketability. I guess even us working folks need a virtial kick in the pants now and then <smile>. On 4/10/13, John G. Heim <jheim at math.wisc.edu> wrote: > > > Oh, yeah, I believe you are talking about the time I went to a job > interview and I already had like 20 years of experience in systems > administration and programming. All this was on my resume, of course, > but when the woman who was going to interview me saw that I am blind, > she flatly refused to interview me at first. She wouldn't believe a > blind person can use a computer. I had to convince her that the stuff on > my resume was real. She went ahead with the interview but she clearly > didn't believe a word I was saying. I sure wish I had had the presence > of mind to let her send me away. Then I could have sued her dumb a**. > > I don't think there should be any question that prejudice is a far > bigger factor than anything blind people bring upon themselves. I mean, > I look back at my co-workers over the years and there is no way they are > any better than many of the unemployed blind technologists I know. > > Here's the deal... Blind people never get to skate by. Blind people > never have things just handed to them. Blind people can't just show up > for work every day, put in their 8 hours, go home, and expect to keep > doing that for 20 or 30 years. You have to fight for every new > assignment, every promotion, every raise you get. > > You might be thinking, "Well, everyone has to do that." Yeah, sort of. > But the difference in degree is so great that it's astonishing. Keep > your eyes open and you will see. The vast majority of people skate by. > They just pretty much show up for work every day. The economy takes a > downturn and they get layed off. But eventually, they find another job. > A blind person has to fight for everything he gets. I am well aware that > a lot of blind people just need a good kick in the butt. But if that was > all it took to be unemployed, the whole world's unemployment rate would > be around 80%. > > I'm not whining. None of this really applies to me. I've never been > unemployed for a single day since I got my first job after college. I > started each new job literally the day after I left my previous job. In > fact, I feel extremely lucky that I happen to be so good at making > computers work. I didn't do anything to deserve that. I have worked very > hard and I've been smart managing my career. But what if I wasn't good > at computers? Where would I be? I don't know. But I do know a lot of > sighted people who aren't particularly well motivated, not particularly > good with computers, and who have never had a problem finding a job. I > don't know any blind people like that. If you're blind, you have to be > very good and very motivated or you are probably going to be unemployed. > > Note that I said *probably*. I know some blind people skate by. But like > I said, its a matter of degree and that difference is huge. > > On 04/10/2013 03:20 AM, Tony Baechler wrote: >> I agree. John on this list has his own story of how he got hired by the >> math department of the University of Wisconsin. However, it makes a lot >> better case if the blind person can read and write. Let's take an >> average sighted person. I suppose there are exceptions nowadays, but I >> can't imagine an employer hiring that average sighted person if they >> don't have literacy. For one thing, how would they fill out the job >> application? The blind person's solution would either be a sighted >> reader or a scanner, but I would guess that most employers would find it >> rather strange if a sighted person brought their reader with them and >> explained that they can't read print. I do agree with you completely >> that the blind person needs to try harder and has more to overcome, but >> I still think that literacy has a lot to do with it, regardless of being >> blind. Nowadays, most jobs require at least a college degree and I >> don't see how a sighted person would get one if they can't read. >> Granted, reading Braille isn't the same as reading print, but at least >> the blind person can show the ability to take notes, phone messages, >> etc. In the computer industry, I've heard that it's a lot easier to do >> programming with a Braille display, but I don't have one and I'm not a >> programmer. >> >> On 4/9/2013 11:18 AM, acollins at icsmail.net wrote: >>> Hi Tony. To a certain extent, you are right. But while being able to >>> read and write properly, and have good gramar is important, I would >>> argue that the misperceptions, and misunderstandings about blindness >>> are the larger problem. >>> >>> Most sighted folks just don't have a clue about what is possible for a >>> blind person, and because they can't conceive of how a blind person >>> functions through out his daily life, they aren't willing to give a >>> blind person a chance. Saddly, I've experienced enough of this kind of >>> behavior to know that what I say is true. >>> >>> A successful blind person always has to try a bit harder, and make a >>> better impression than his sighted counterparts. I'm not crying in my >>> beer, just expressing the facts. Blind folks who allow themselves to >>> feel sorry for themselves, just won't cut it, and there are a lot of >>> them out there. Saddly, like thesong says, "That's just the way it is." >> _______________________________________________ >> Speakup mailing list >> Speakup at linux-speakup.org >> http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup >> > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at linux-speakup.org > http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup >
