been a while since i rapped at ya

(Jim Anchower, anyone?)

Not sure if anyone still reads this, but whatev.

So... like most students, I'm searching for a summer job, and having a tough time finding any work in our current economic state. Due to my ankle & knee problems, I'm restricting my job search to office work or anything else that doesn't require me to spend much time on my feet. Unfortunately, I have no experience working in an office. All of my high school and college jobs involved retail sales and customer service. I have most of the skills required to work in an office, and I'm sure I could pick up the rest quickly, but that doesn't matter. My BA and the work I've done toward my MA also don't matter. With so many people searching for jobs right now, my resume is quickly passed over in favor of applicants with experience.

After applying to dozens of jobs in the past month, I finally got an interview today. The interview was for a "greeter" job at a fitness club. This is a position for which I'm qualified: I have years of experience in customer service, and I know quite a bit about gyms. I think I could handle this. The interview went well, and I was pretty sure I would be considered for the job, until it came to the part where I ask questions. I mentioned that when I walked in, I noticed the greeter was standing up behind the desk. I told the interviewers that I have a bad knee and ankle, and asked whether I'd be able to sit while working. They said no, that this is a job that needs to be done while standing. I asked whether accommodations could be made in my case, such as having a stool behind the front desk so I could sit for a few minutes here and there. They mumbled "maybe", but by that point, something had changed in their demeanor. They were slightly cold to me then, and gave me the "don't call us, we'll call you" schtick and saw me out the door.

Assuming I won't get the call, I'm back to the drawing board, and incredibly frustrated. I finally got an interview for a job that I thought I could do, but as it turns out, I can't because of my ankle and knee.

I find that it's hard to explain to people how I'm feeling and why it limits me. Perhaps there were different magic words that I could have said - words that would have made the interviewers understand that this really is an issue, not just an unwillingness on my part to be a hard worker. I think I'm kind of in this no man's land between being able-bodied and being visibly disabled. Everyone likes to think of themselves as being sensitive to people with disabilities. We open doors for people in wheelchairs, or carry things for people who use canes, etc. People don't seem to realize, though, that not every disability is obvious. If you're not visibly disabled, you're assumed to be able-bodied, and you're expected to work hard. Our society values people who pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and wait tables to work their way through med school or whatever. Nobody wants to listen to a co-worker (or an interviewee, for that matter) say they can't stand for long periods of time because they have a bum knee/ankle. Everyone has a bum knee, right? How do I explain this is different? Instead of saying "I can't stand for long periods of time because I have a bad knee and ankle," I could say: "I can't stand for long periods of time because I was in a bad accident and had nine surgeries and I still go to physical therapy regularly and I take painkillers every day." But I don't want to, and I shouldn't have to. Or maybe I do have to. I don't know.

Anyway, rant over. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks with a pain management doc, so hopefully that will help me to deal with things from a different perspective. As far as the summer job search goes, hopefully I'll find something soon, and then the summer will be over and it won't matter anymore (until next summer). For the school year, I'm lucky enough to have funding, which is really exciting. I'll be teaching intro music theory courses to freshmen (or maybe sophomores, I haven't heard yet). I had a lot of fun when I was a TA a couple of quarters ago.

I suppose things have happened since I last posted. I traveled a lot last quarter and I'm continuing to recover from the knee surgery. Haven't finished my MA yet, but hopefully by December. Danley got married in June - photos on Facebook. AV and I are thinking about moving to a smaller place, maybe downtown, maybe with a view! We'll see.

Okay, gotta go.