Skip to main content

Piece #2 - Jobs

My mom and dad always believed that school should come before any job. (What else would you expect from two teachers!) My first real job was working at an arcade, and for those of you who are too young to remember, an arcade was a store you could go to and play video games! Of course finding one today in nearly impossible...unless you want tasteless pizza and a cartoon animal singing in your ear! So if it wasn't for my friend Chris, who knows how long it would have been before I got a job. The reason is with Asperger's, one never knows what kind of job interview one might have; meaning at that moment you might remember the questions you asked and answered, but when you leave...you forget it! Not on purpose but, trying to think back about what was said may be impossible, unless I took notes!  I remember an interview I had for a video rental company called Applause Video. I recall some questions they would generally ask then they recreated a scene where they wanted me to sell a product of theirs, so I did it and I thought I impressed them. I didn't get the job and still didn't know why. I even remember one time where I helped set-up a store and on the inside, but when it came time for positions my friends all got jobs, but I got left out...what the HECK?!!! It didn't make any sense. I was able to get a job at K-Mart (Yes, I actually said K-Mart, not the Other-Mart). I have to say thank you to that corporation for getting me through most of my college years.
There were several obstacles I had trouble with while working.  One was money because there was a time when a person could come in and say I didn't give them enough change so I wouldn't question it, I would simply give them what I still owed them. However, when I turned in my drawer at the end of the shift, I end up being that many dollars short; or even sometimes too much! Other times would be where I'm on the floor and I'll have several customers come up to me all at once and I can't remember every one's request so what ends up happening is I've left a customer standing there, still waiting for me to help them...and a little pissed off.  So that would lead to this...complaints and conflicts, I'm an incredibly big pacifist and I try as hard as I can to avoid a fight. If a customer complained, I would do anything in my power to make then happy (or shut them up!).
Between the arcade and K-Mart, my wife and I got jobs as Para-professionals for the Kansas City Kansas School District. There, having watched the lead teacher do her job, I knew I could do that too; so I was able to make the faithful decision of becoming a teacher. I worked with severe-multiple handicapped kids and I really found the experience to be enlightening. Jaimee got to work with Behavior Disordered students (or at least that's what they were called back then.)
One of my last jobs before the education field came a callin' was Worlds of Fun. It's an amusement park here in Kansas City and my job was a floating ride operator. Meaning, when I came in to work, they would place me where ever they needed someone to run a ride, so instead of always being at one station, I got to travel around the whole park. The only real reason why I mention this is because my twin daughters work there now and I'm really proud of them both; one paints faces and the other takes pictures.
[By the way, I did have one BRIEF job at a certain cafeteria which shall remain...nameless! Just three words: Chicken...Finger...Hands. Nuff’ Said!!!]

The Song of Inspiration [Check it out on iTunes!]:

Song: "Hold Us Together"
Artist: Matt Maher
Album: Alive Again

Comments

  1. Your so lucky dad that you got to work at an arcade. I have always wanted to go to a REAL one but the closes i can get is Chucky Cheeses(yuck!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have to say that it was totally awesome being the little brother to the guy running the arcade! I could never wait to go there and get hooked up with free tokens!! Was it called Aladdin's Castle Arcade? Not very big, but a lot of fun!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Piece #111 - First Impressions

"You already know that making a good first impression can go a long way. But forget all the advice you've received about dressing to impress or putting on a cheesy smile. Turns out, the true secret to building a lasting connection reaches much deeper than what you wear." "According to Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School professor who has researched first impressions for more than 15 years, everyone (consciously or subconsciously) asks two questions when they meeting someone new: Can I trust this person? And can I respect this person?" This quote comes from Reader's Digest and I actually found this rather compelling because I never really heard of this before. I've addressed this topic of first impressions in the past but, I have to admit that this idea is interesting. I guess since you hear a lot of things from a smile, the outfit or what you say make the difference; however these two questions have me a little perplexed. I think it depends on the ...

Piece #1 - The Beginning

I guess like embarking on any puzzle, it must always starts with the first piece. So to begin, I have Asperger's Syndrome, in other words I'm Autistic, and so this literature will be about my struggles with this disorder as an adult. I was first diagnosed back in the summer of 2004. If it wasn't for my twin daughters, I might not have ever known all the questions I have ever had in life; to them, I will always be in their debt. Growing up, you are never really aware of any differences until the judgment years...6th thru 12th grade of school. A time when one always tests their own humanity against others; meaning, how will I measure up against other students.   In my eyes I seemed to be just like them; two arms and legs, ten fingers and toes, head and body...nothing unusual. Yet, for some reason, I was treated a little different than everyone else. That's one of those things that you can't quite put your finger on, but I observed on many occasions how kids would talk...

Broken Piece #2 - Susan Boyle

For those of you who are not sure who is Susan Boyle, she was the second place winner to the show "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009. She sang the famous song from  Les   Misérables  "I Dreamed the Dream". Since the show, Susan had been making guest appearances on a variety of shows and recorded several albums. Susan's first album alone broke several chart-records and was very well received around the world. I believe why she had such incredible appeal was because she was a perfect representative of all the 'regular people' in the world. She didn't come in flashy or striking but, modest and humble. When a person like Susan is thrown into the whirlwind of concerts, parties, media, and money, it's very difficult to stay grounded and not having your own personal world torn apart. Sadly for Susan Boyle, her tiny universe is crumbling. First, she did have a health scare when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that prompted her to lose weight. Se...