2005-02-09 - 6:30 p.m.
This is a traditional blog-style rant, but I�m sorry, I�m just kind of steamed.
Realizing I should figure out what I should do with my life after graduation (theoretically in May; cheer me on) I went to a �job interview� today. Except it wasn�t really a job interview. The federal government runs a Workforce Recruitment Program for students with disabilities. They aren�t offering you an actual job, they just want to compile a database of gimps in case some federal agency or contractor feels it should increase its workforce diversity by hiring someone with a disability.
So it was the weirdest interview I�ve ever been to. Usually, the interviewer is trying to fill a specific job and they want to see if you�re right for it. But here, while they asked all the usual questions, I didn�t quite get what the point was. What�s your greatest strength? Weakness? Talk about past work experience. Do you have a cover letter? Recommendation? Uh. For what, exactly? �Dear Sirs: I feel Geoff will be outstanding in whatever the hell position you�re looking to fill.�
Of course, the whole thing proceeded at the glacial pace of federal government. My 11:30 interview got underway around 12:20. The interviewer was visually impaired and was only able to read my resume by holding it next to her eyes. She was herself apparently a beneficiary of this program and this did nothing to inspire any confidence in their ability to match someone to an appropriate position. Last year, she cheerfully told me, 1,800 students applied to this program and over 300 received job offers! (Gee, sounds like great odds to me.)
How can I put this diplomatically? Fuck alla youse. I so don�t want to be the token crip working for W. I need this charity like a hole in the head and I already got that (well, lesions anyway). Did ethnic minorities feel this way back in the day? That�s absolutely horrible.
Fortunately, there�s now a post-industrial economy and I�m an Information Age kind of guy. I know I wouldn�t be much use around the steel mill or widget factory. I worry far more about the struggle to control my mouse and type than about unachievable work tasks which aren�t really done much around here. Robert Reich once called information manipulation (as opposed to industrial production or service labor) �symbolic analysis�. The physically disabled (especially those in ADA-compliant workplaces) have little �functional limitation� in this area.
I�ve heard all sorts of scary statistics about unemployment and disability (two-thirds unemployment is the most commonly quoted figure), mostly of dubious provenance. But I�ll take my chances, thanks.
� 2005 Geoff Gladstone
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