Utopia?

What is going on here? I went and applied for a job that was absolutely PERFECT for me. No phone work required, just pure data entry and yet they found someone else? How about when this company said, "When was your last job? I am looking for someone who has been currently working." Good excuse.

Seems to me that most company prefer to hire only hearing people not disabled people. That is MY impression.

Years ago, we used to have a government program called "TJTC" which stands for Targeted Job Tax Credit. The company would get $2,000 Tax Credit for every Disabled person hired for 2 years limit.

One such company hired a whole bunch of Deaf people and got those credits, kept us Deaf working for two years and then fire them all at the same time... well, actually I was there for 2 1/2 years when the company decides to fire all six of us in the same week for several different insignificant reasons.

Out of those six, I knew of two. One worked there for six years without a problem - she was pregnant with her first child in that year. Took 8 weeks maternity leave, by the time she was to return to her place of employment, the boss already filled that position without ever telling her! That boss repeatedly promised job security for her upon returning to work!

Another guy was working there for quite some time and got fired for an unknown reason and here's the doozie: he never once took a sick day off! Perfect attendance record and yet he lost his job.

That company was investigated and later folded. It no longer exists today. Not as far as I know.

Also, TJTC program no longer exists. It was replaced with a new arsenal called ADA - Americans with Disability Act. It was supposed to help us get accomodations for anything / anyplace we need in order to function in this world - public places, employment, etc. I remember cheering when this guy (I'm sorry but I can't seem to remember his name! Something Italian...) signed the words in silence. It was awesome to see him do it and to hear the screams of joy.

Well, I am sad to say that this ADA isn't strongly enforced. What does the company want? A perfect world? A world where they have someone who can multi-task as if they were born with eight arms? A world where the disability are not seen anywhere in the office - no wheelchairs, no white cane, no seeing-eye or hearing dog in sight? Come ON! That's a fantasy world - an Utopia of workplace.

No such thing. We have different color skin, different language, different culture. Why not different disability? We've got those, right? Well, since there are so many of us who happens to have a disability of some sort, we are bound to be seen at a local store, video rental place, resturants, etc.

In other word, "We are EVERYWHERE."