When I was given the job I asked about transportation. I don't have a car and wondered how I would get to work and around town. I was told that although there is no public transportation places are walk able and I would be getting rides to work from my coworkers. When I got here a few things were apparent from the start. Places are not walk able (or wheelchair able?) My office is a little over 3 miles away and the places to shop are much further. That is a long jaunt to get to work without transportation.
My ride to work is also less the usual. I get dropped off at the police station at 7:10 which is when another intern who works there gets to work. Then at around 7:25-7:30 I get picked up from a coworker to go to work. My coworker doesn't start until 8:00, so she is in no hurry to pick me up on time. She spends most of the drive to work complaining about how this is very inconvenient for her because does not start work for another half an hour. She talks about how I am lucky and should be grateful she does this for me. The part of that I have a problem with is SHE HIRED me and told me not to worry about transportation because it will be provided.
This job is suppose to help me (disabled people) get ready for the workforce. Is relying on rides and constantly being at least 5 minutes late to work every day teaching responsibility? Should disabled workers be taught to be grateful to get driven everywhere?
This also creates an unequal power balance in the workplace. How am I supposed to feel comfortable voicing my opinion on issues when I rely on people to get around? If we disagree about reasonable accommodations will I have to wait outside an extra tem minutes tomorrow?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
How did I get here?
You might be wondering how I ended up working on a military base for the the summer. The answer has two parts. The first part is by being mislead by my employer and the other is my own naive fault.
I did not apply for this job. I took part in the Work Place Recruitment program. The WRP matches College seniors or newly graduated students with disabilities with federal jobs. They have recruiters (that should of been my first tip off) travel to colleges to meet with students and then send their interview notes along with resumes to employers. This is a way to get more students with disability into the work field. I got involved in the WRP because the recruiter used the office where I worked on campus for the interviews and since there was a two hour gap between interviews I met with the recruiter to make my coworker look better. Months down the road I got a call at 5:00 am with a job offer. (My soon to be coworker always forgets time differences and routinely called me at 5:00am (that should have been tip two not to take the job).
I got a job offer to work at the Equal Employment Office (EEO) in New York. I was told I would work full time for three months receiving roughly 20$ an hour with free housing. This sounded great! The EEO is an office that fights for workers who are being discriminated against based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or age. I was told there was no public transportation but the store is about a 10 minute walk and I could get rides to work. All of this sounded like a great opportunity that shouldn't be passed up.
I was told the Office was in Fort Drum. This is where the deception starts. That raised a red flag for me. I immediately asked "will I be working for/ with the Army?" I was assured that this job is not affiliated with the army, and the office is strictly civilian based. (Tip off three) Here is where me being naive comes into play. I stopped questioning her. I assumed that my office was a federal based office that did EEO work that was located on Fort Drum. Did my employer lie to me? No, technically my job is to work with Civilians on base whom been discriminated against. I still feel mislead. I do think anti-discrimination work for military civilians is important, but as I will explain later the way they are doing it here is not productive. I would not have left my job in Seattle helping high school students with disability learn how to be independent to work for the Army.
Next is the Pay issue. I was told I would roughly make 20$ and hour. I told my employer in Seattle I would be leaving for the summer, told my roommate I was moving out, and bought a plane ticket. I was told a few weeks before I was going to leave that I was going to make 13.25$ an hour. I am not complaining about that price, but that is not roughly 20$! I was making almost the same amount of money at my job in Seattle. Early I was told that my position is at the 20$ pay level, so why am I making less? Does it have to do with be a person with a disability in this WRP program? My suspcious are it does, more on that later.
I did not apply for this job. I took part in the Work Place Recruitment program. The WRP matches College seniors or newly graduated students with disabilities with federal jobs. They have recruiters (that should of been my first tip off) travel to colleges to meet with students and then send their interview notes along with resumes to employers. This is a way to get more students with disability into the work field. I got involved in the WRP because the recruiter used the office where I worked on campus for the interviews and since there was a two hour gap between interviews I met with the recruiter to make my coworker look better. Months down the road I got a call at 5:00 am with a job offer. (My soon to be coworker always forgets time differences and routinely called me at 5:00am (that should have been tip two not to take the job).
I got a job offer to work at the Equal Employment Office (EEO) in New York. I was told I would work full time for three months receiving roughly 20$ an hour with free housing. This sounded great! The EEO is an office that fights for workers who are being discriminated against based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or age. I was told there was no public transportation but the store is about a 10 minute walk and I could get rides to work. All of this sounded like a great opportunity that shouldn't be passed up.
I was told the Office was in Fort Drum. This is where the deception starts. That raised a red flag for me. I immediately asked "will I be working for/ with the Army?" I was assured that this job is not affiliated with the army, and the office is strictly civilian based. (Tip off three) Here is where me being naive comes into play. I stopped questioning her. I assumed that my office was a federal based office that did EEO work that was located on Fort Drum. Did my employer lie to me? No, technically my job is to work with Civilians on base whom been discriminated against. I still feel mislead. I do think anti-discrimination work for military civilians is important, but as I will explain later the way they are doing it here is not productive. I would not have left my job in Seattle helping high school students with disability learn how to be independent to work for the Army.
Next is the Pay issue. I was told I would roughly make 20$ and hour. I told my employer in Seattle I would be leaving for the summer, told my roommate I was moving out, and bought a plane ticket. I was told a few weeks before I was going to leave that I was going to make 13.25$ an hour. I am not complaining about that price, but that is not roughly 20$! I was making almost the same amount of money at my job in Seattle. Early I was told that my position is at the 20$ pay level, so why am I making less? Does it have to do with be a person with a disability in this WRP program? My suspcious are it does, more on that later.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Greetings from Fort Drum
This is a blog about being a Kripple. A Kripple who is spending a summer working and living on a military base in New York. I am a student at the University of Washington with only five credits left before I graduate with a triple major in Disability Studies, Comparative History of Ideas, and Political Science. I am going to use this blog to share my experience of being a person with a disability living on a military base. I will also be talking about other issues that I see including, race, gender, sexual orientation, economics along with other things.
*I refer to myself as a Kripple because it is who I am. I cannot deny that my body is built differently then what is seen as a "normal" person. I have impairments that others do not have. I ACCEPT and take pride in who I am. In using the word Kripple I am saying this is who I am, I do not have to change to fit into society, but we should change society to be inclusive for all people.
*I refer to myself as a Kripple because it is who I am. I cannot deny that my body is built differently then what is seen as a "normal" person. I have impairments that others do not have. I ACCEPT and take pride in who I am. In using the word Kripple I am saying this is who I am, I do not have to change to fit into society, but we should change society to be inclusive for all people.
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