I work for a company that helps people with developmental disabilities (autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc) become more independent in their daily lives. Recently, one of our clients successfully earned her vet tech certification. She wants to help sick animals, especially cats. This is a girl who could barely write her own name when we started working with her. Now, she's going places. Makes all the hard work worth it.
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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What type of business is this, say if I was trying to find a similar one in my area?
The state I live in has Medicaid waivers that pay (with tax dollars) for people who have developmental disabilities to get home-based help. So basically we send a Direct Support Professional (DSP) to the person's home for a set number of hours each week, and they work on goals with that person. Goals can be things like learning to cook for themselves, working on their social skills, going out in the community to find hobbies, enrolling in classes, etc, etc, etc. We pay the DSP by the hour, and then Medicaid reimburses our company. So it's free for the person/family who needs our services. I'm pretty sure that most states in the US have waivers like this set up. It's called the Community Living Supports Waiver in my state. If you live in the US, you can just look up Medicaid waivers in your state, and it should pull up companies like the one I work for. Unfortunately, I've found that not a lot of people know about the waivers, including families and individuals who could really use them.
I love that you’re making a difference in both a social and a tangible way. We write off far too many people because it’s just too difficult to integrate them, basically. Yes, more complex than that, but…
Thank you for what you do.
Cashier here. I managed to outwardly stay friendly and nice during the first wave of Covid, even tho at least 70% of our customers had managed to turn into the most insufferable nuisances in the history of mankind. It was especially exhausting when they started to bulk-buy toilet paper and literally everyone had some sort of super lame excuse why they NEEEEEEED eight packs at once and why we definitely SHOULD make an exception to the "one pack per customer" rule specifically for them.
If you have the same old discussion fourhundredandeightyseven times a day, it gets old pretty fast. But you can't just tell them to STFU without risking your job, soo ... well. It was simply exhausting.
One day I had a proper Karen at the register, who tried to tell me that she was buying the second pack for her poor old neightbor lady which allegedly had a broken hip and couldn't walk to the store herself (you know, because if you have a broken hip you DEFINITELY stay at home instead of the hospital and definitely also use the toilet yourself, no issues here ....) and she simply refused to leave the register. I was honestly contemplating whether I should call security and have her removed when the guy behind her looked at me and said:
"Well, that lady definitely needs twice as much toilet paper as others ..... because judging by the amount of shit that just came out of her mouth, she's got assholes on both ends."
It took all of my remainig willpower to not laugh. Imagine the "Biggus Dickus" scene from the Life of Brian for a mental image of how hard I tried to keep a straight face. Karen got red, huffend and left without buying either pack, and that delightfully snarky guy has been my favorite customer ever since. I might or might not sometimes "accidentally" swipe my own tag across the scanner to give him an employee discount...
I’ve been working retail for the past year and I have gotten so much less reactive.
It’s really hard to toe the line between allowing disrespect, and being disrespectful myself.
One of my main goals for myself right now is to be able to hold my boundaries without getting loud and unpleasant. Just quietly, gently.
Good luck. It's not an easy feat to consistendly walk that fine line without burning out, especially in the holiday season .... take care.
lol true dat. Thanks for reminding me I wasn’t even thinking about holiday uptick in activity.
However I will say it’s easier than being on the street, and if I go long enough at this level without fucking up, I get to level up to someplace even easier.
The thing that really scares me though is the way the problems change at the higher levels. The current problems get easy enough and new problems become visible and those problems are so complex. I like simple, even if it’s hard. I used to run long distance races. I love pushing into a simple but really hard problem like that. But complexity really scares me.
The thing that really scares me though is the way the problems change at the higher levels.
In case you find yourself in the situation, tell your employer. It may sound awkward to them at first that someone wouldn't want to be promoted, but in the end it is in their best interest to keep employees who ARE good at doing their jobs, instead of creating a situation where the same employee is suddenly no longer able to do a good job. This is no shallow talk by the way, but a well-documented, scientifically proven effect called the Peter Principle (which basically boils down to "everyone gets promoted until they reach the point of maximum incompetence and then get stuck in that position")
We as a society are trained to percieve "climbing the corporate ladder" as the main/only goal of working jobs with a hierarchy, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with staying at the level you're comfortable at. ;)
That’s a good point about the Peter Principle. What I’m referring to though is more like the ladder of existence. The hierarchy of stations in life.
Earlier I was a homeless man. Now I’m a single guy living in a small apartment, saving a tiny bit of money from a pretty hard and low-paid job. If I push a bit more I can be a single guy in a medium apartment, with a car, and a slightly higher-paying job.
But not a new job within the same company, just some totally different job that of a totally different nature. Hopefully more meaningful. Right now I’m making retail wages and doing retail work, so low pay for low meaning. But hopefully I can move up to something like social worker salary (not high in the overall scheme of things, but higher pay than retail work).
That corporate ladder is a microcosm of the overall ladder I’m describing. In both hierarchies successful execution, smooth surfing, is the path to the next layer up. And the responsibilities get more complex.
And yes, I appreciate you reminding me to face it and communicate, instead of just backing away silently, when I don’t feel that I’m ready to face the problems of the next level.
Growth requires discomfort and a big part of that discomfort is taking the risk of trying things I feel like I can’t do.
One of my problems in my career is I interview extremely well. I’ve talked my way into jobs I can’t do, then failed badly.
And it’s not by lying or anything. I just sound really smart because I’m a good talker and sound extremely confident.
But interviews are sprints and jobs are marathons, and I’ve burned myself by failing to acknowledge what I can and can’t do.
Ohh okay. I really misunderstood your point then, but thank you for clarifying ;)
I’ve talked my way into jobs I can’t do, then failed badly
Failing at something is not the end of the world. Sure it sucks at first, and possible setbacks in life aren't exactly cool either, but you DO sound like someone who refuses to stay down whenever life decided to knock you down, and that is something not everyone can do. That requires an inner strength and determination that a lot of people simply can't muster.
And you know what? Your idea of working in the social sector sounds like an excellent goal - it IS a hard job with little pay, but since you fought your way up from the bottom already, you have a completely different, deeper insight into related issues than someone who knows homelessness and its struggles only from a textbook. You will be able to understand clients in similar situations on a completely different level, and they in turn might be more inclined to trust your advice. You might be able to actually help people that simply fall through the cracks elsewhere.
Good luck, friend. May your spark never fade.
Hilarious. People like her are why people like me paid two hundred fucking dollars for a pack of TP at the height of the crazy.
There was none to be found within several hours drive, and Sears doesn’t make catalogs that double for the purpose anymore.
Exactly ... there would not even have been a shortage if everyone just kept shopping the normal amount instead of trying to hoard stuff. Especially for TP it was completely unneccessary unless your entire family planned to shit themselves eight times a day for weeks on end, yet people acted as if their lives depended on it (and even stole rolls from the public toilets, bought paper towels as backup and the like).
Another delicious "FU" moment, that I was sadly not personally present for but got told in great detail, was when one customer tried to return 100-something packs of TP for a refund after the first wave of Covid was almost over. Turns out he and some buddies had the genius idea to buy "one pack per person" multiple times each day for a couple of weeks (he had a giant bundle of receipts so we know when the packs were bought) and then resell the TP online for profit, but noone bought it.... and since TP is a "hygiene article", we don't take those back for safety reasons, just like underwear, swimsuits and everything else that is meant to come in contact with human bodies. He was so furious that he started throwing things, screaming about how "we ruined him and will pay for it", and threatening employees to the point that police had to be called to remove him.
Not the shop security, but actual police. A report was filed and a shop ban issued.
Because of toilet paper.
I joined a company, was given part ownership, could not believe how much money was wasted by the other owners behind the curtain, proposed reforms that were ignored, set up a presentation showing that we could all retire in 4 years on interest if we invested excess profits, nobody was interested. They just wanted to expand.
The other owners were taking minimum to zero salary, saying that their stakes would pay off soon after they expanded.
I insisted on receiving full salary since I was working and again explained that we could all start receiving interest payments right away if we invested this year's profits. Ignored.
After two years of full salary and basically running the company, warning the other owners I would leave if nothing changed and they kept investing capital into unnecessary expansions for a year, I gave two months notice, the other owners acted surprised, I trained a few people to do my job, cashed out my ownership, left the company, cut ties, haven't looked back in years .
Just found out a couple weeks ago that the company collapsed almost immediately after I left.
Big ol' grin on my face all that day.
Not always so nice to be needed, lmao
I’m an Aussie and took on my first management role in 2011. In 2012 I was voted best manager of the year and my employer rewarded me with an all-expenses paid trip to America for two weeks to visit San Diego, L.A, and Las Vegas.
Then in the same job in 2017 I entered my business into a national sales competition and amongst 400-something businesses nationwide, I won it. The prize was an all-expenses paid trip for two weeks to Texas, Kentucky, and Indiana, and they sent me.
This year; new job, two weeks in, my boss tells me the company want to start sending management to the U.S for integration, so as the first employee to ever go in the company’s 40-year history I was sent all-expenses paid to New York.
Three trips to America, three completely different, blindside reasons. Six states - east, west, south and mid.
Sounds like Australia is trying really hard to get rid of you.
Nah, Art35ian is a mad cunt.
Crikey, thats awesome! To be fair, your accent is an unfair competitive advantage, I love Aussie accents. Use Siri with it too :)
I was the service manager at an Apple Authorized Service Provider and some rich fuckwit brought in his top-end MacBook Pro he bought a few weeks earlier that he'd spilled water all over. It was completely unresponsive and all the water indicator stickers were flagging, so he'd have to pay a large fee and he opted to just buy a new one. I had him sign a release form, I removed all the water indicator stickers, disassembled and carefully cleaned the entire thing and put it back together. Sent it in to Apple for a warranty replacement and they replaced the entire unit except the display and sent it back to me good as new. That was 10 years ago and I still use the device daily for 3D modeling and rendering and it's still an absolute beast.
Well played.
Best scam ever. Too bad you can’t do it any more. Ah, the old days where it was just stickers tattling on your accidental damage
I worked at a rehab center as a housekeeper. Im not an addict was just looking for a job and mom was working there st the time so easy in. For three months I was the only housekeeper for a 3 story mansion with 30 rooms. I did the best I could and dramatically improved the condition of the whole facility. Full time 2nd shift including weekends. I was payed less than McDonalds but I was effectively my own boss and as long as I got done what I needed to was free to spend my time how I saw fit so I accepted the low pay and shit work knowing it was a temporary thing. Over the months they kept 'one more thing'ing me with the worst being moving the dumpster 500ft to the back o he parkinglot and expecting me to haul a broken wagon full of trash multiple times a day. Kept promising they would hie me help but never got any. I took all the extra responsibility I could and was essentially a one man army. Yet my boss treated me worse and worse to the point of trying to chew me out for taking a break. I am an etremely timid person who hates conflict and argument but something finally snapped in me. that was the first time in my life I ever stood up for myself and told his ass how it was. I can tolerate low pay, I can tolerate just one more things, I can tolerate mentally ill clients, but one thing I dont tolerate is being talked down to and disrespected by my peers. I told him all that, that he was a boss to me in name only and that we were equals in this shit show, that I am not his bitch boy and to never speak to me like that again unless he wants to find a new housekeeper on the spot. He apologized and admitted to not treating me right as he has been super stressed out which I can understand.
I later quit when they denied me a few days of PTO when my foot got sprained. Fuck that! Funnily enough they magically found another housekeeper weeks after, and played them even less than what they paid me lol
I have finally proudly reached a point of mental maturity where I can tell people how it is if they push me far enough without fear, and to understand that no amount of money is worth my dignity and mental health.
A newer employee was always complaining to management about our dept. at one point he wrote a long email that was mostly quotes from industry leaders saying how the industry despises our dept, that the changes we make are unnecessary. Our dept head received that email and showed it to me. It was pretty scathing.
So I looked up the quotes.
The employee had changed the quotes to fit their narrative. This is a no-no in their industry. The real quotes actually said that even though change is hard, it’s necessary and our dept is essential in making it go smoothly.
I wrote back to management, highlighted the changes they made to the real quotes, and suggested two things:
What they did may be ethically wrong.
How they did it in such a dumb way may be how they approach other aspects of their job. Maybe they aren’t good at it.
Never heard a peep from the employee again. They were asked to leave. I chortled when I saw their departure notice.
Hotel restaurant. The HR lady was giving my brother shit for not wearing safety shoes in the kitchen. She was saying this while in the kitchen wearing heels.
She picked the wrong day. Bro wasn't having it.
"What the FUCK are you doing in here then!? Get out of my FUCKING kitchen!"
Everyone had been feeling it.. He spoke for all of us.
Mid/late-90s, a woman who was having an affair with one of the managers gets a huge promotion despite not even being qualified for the job she had. No question as to why. Proceeds to embarrass herself at every turn, yet manager thinks she's great. Meanwhile, truly deserving people are overlooked.
Mid-2000, same woman is now in charge of a new product team. I'm working as a technical consultant and evaluating products for purchase by GSA (Government Services Administration, the buying arm of the US Federal government). Her product is on the GSA-approved list but has never been evaluated for compliance. Lying to the Feds subjects you to the False Claims Act and can result in fines and being blocked by GSA from selling to the government. I alert company management to this. Not only is it a danger to the company, she had to have lied about it to launch the product in the first place. Lawyers get involved. I hurriedly evaluate the product. Luckily, it qualifies. We cross our fingers no one from GSA ever asks to see the paper trail.
A month later she's leaving the company to start her own catering business (I'm not making this up).
It didn't last a year.
There was a programmer at my job, he put out the vibe of being a gung-ho guy and got promoted to team lead. The moment he had a scrap of power he started publicly berating the other devs, randomly, over nothing, leaving me wondering who he'd snap on on a given day. One day I got the message to shut off his access to the build server, which meant he was fired. It took way too long but it was delicious when it happened and my work satisfaction skyrocketed. An asshole can change a whole job.
I came in to work one Saturday. My first time in the office on an off day. Just figured I’d get a little work done.
Computer wouldn’t let me log in. Being smart, I recognized the early signs of being fired and decided I’d get ahead of it. I couldn’t get fired again. It would just destroy my career.
So I resigned. On Monday there was so much confusion. Management was so confused, they were like “we thought it was going well”. I had some cover story about why I was quitting, because I didn’t want to admit I was just trying to interrupt a firing with my own resignation sorcery.
Finally I realized the pained looks on their faces were real. Luckily, I was finally honest about what my reasons were. Turns out IT was doing some work on my computer, and had temporarily disabled my account. Or something like that.
Anyway it just about the most ridiculous comedy of errors I’ve been in. I feel so bad for my employers. They were like “But what?? We thought it was going great”.
After discovering I had thought I might be on the verge of being let go, they resolved to be more clear about how much they valued me.
We had a layoff a few years ago. I was told my job was safe. The next day I got an email about an internal job fair. Three heads above me panicked.
That's amazing
Had one customer when working for an ISP would call anytime he 'felt like' his internet was slow. No shock, each time he called was because someone else at the office was working and using the internet correctly. As the contract renewal came about I recommend we don't renew his contract and cut ties, the boss was confused about this because this discussion never came up before.
I showed the boss the customer ticket history and how we are loosing money on this customer after considering support costs.
The boss agreed and oh boy the client wasn't happy when we told him.
Lmao. That's hilarious
Dude who was Manipulating my boss (who we didn't know at the time was declining in mental health due to huntingtons disease) got fired.
This guy was a ruthless climbing saboteur and also allergic to work. Everything he touched went to shit, tried to skirt the line of firable offenses saying he was our "union rep" but everyone hated him especially management. We actually work in a reasonable place and at least our department has decent salary even for no experience kids fresh out of college. Most people that leave try to come back as the grass was not greener.
Anyway, he finally committed a fire-able offense after my boss died and his manipulated shield was gone and replaced with a really good manager that didn't take shit like that. He then tried to reapply under a fake name but he's a fucking idiot and was found out.
Fuck that guy. Good riddance. I found out he now works for DHS (dept. Of homeland security) so fuck us but whatever, at least he's out of my life.
Gee you look an awful lot like a guy who used to work here. But I guess you’re not him. Now, on these business cards do you want it to just say McLovin?
I got promoted.
Congrats!
Thanks
My redundancy payment!