Vomit Comet

Ok, rant time again. Yee ha.

One of the newest places where I volunteer has a stupid policy they call ARAO. It stands for Anti-Racism Anti-Oppression. AT this point I can hear the peanut gallorie booing me off the stage and calling me a racist asshole. But wait wait wait!

Basically the policy says they can’t turn people down based on their race, disability, or any other difference they may have. That sounds cool, until you realize what it means. It means that even if they want to turn you down, if you have something different, like I happen to have, they feel obligated to hang onto you. I wanted to do this job where you go with people to appointments that might be stressful or require moral support. Because I can’t see where I’m going, they don’t think I can do the job. How they think I manage to do my day to day things I don’t know. So, instead of flat out rejecting me, they’re trying to scare me away from the job by telling me that the situation could be unsafe, or they might get sued if I don’t do it right, etc. If they didn’t think I could do the job, and didn’t really want to give me a chance, why didn’t they just fucking say so, and save me the grief of fighting the impossible fight of proving myself to people who don’t really want to listen.

Does something fall from the sky and smack you on the head yet? Why does this place *need* to write down in a policy that they shouldn’t discriminate?? Have they had a history of discrimination before? When will people realize that policies don’t fix problems? We need to change attitudes, and forcing companies to have token women, blacks, people with disabilities only puts faces on resentment. I know, I know, the inventors of these policies think, “Yeah, but if we can just get them into the companies, they can change the minds of the higher-ups and life will be beautiful.” Have these people actually worked as a token? It doesn’t work. If the boss really doesn’t want that person in their company, they can make their life hell and find ways to make them look bad, proving that these policies only keep the best person for the job from having the job.

The peanut gallorie rises again. “Just be thankful they’re giving you a chance at all and there is legislation in place to guarantee that chance.” But the chance is no good if it’s not genuine. It’s like saying that everyone who’s poor has the right to this little pot of money. But when they get to the pot, they find out it’s monopoly money. What good is that? They can’t buy things at the store with it, they can’t put it in their checking account, but oh the government says they gave them money. It’s the same with these stupid bullshit policies. They’re not real.

Let’s face it. The future freaks me out. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find a job where I actually feel valued. I have found some volunteer placements where I felt like I had a chance. But when money’s involved, I’m afraid that the company will go for the cheapest and least labour-intensive option. Wouldn’t you? “Hmmm. I can hire this person who can read the print notices on the wall and all the print resources available to them, doesn’t need special software on the computer to make it usable for them, can drive, and will never ask me for anything except the occasional holiday. Or I can hire this blink with the same skills who I’ll have to throw a bunch of money into, they might ask for more stuff, and they might complain if they miss an important printed company memo. I choose…lemmy think…the first one.”

So I can see where some genius thought legislating companies into hiring people in the minority might have been a good idea. But what they forgot is you can’t legislate opinion. Human thought is still free, and it should be. Plus, if legislation was so effective, we could demolish the prisons and fire the police. Does that sound like a good idea to anyone? Didn’t think so.

Man I love bus rides like this, when amusement plops itself down beside you and helps you pass the time. I was sitting on the bus, and this woman and her four-year-old daughter came and sat down beside me. At first it was just average mother-daughter stuff. Then this conversation unfolded that had me giggling for a long long time.

little girl: Mommy, I love you.
Mother: Julia, I love you too.
Julia: I love you all the way to Chrissie’s house.
Mother: I love you all the way to the moon.
Julia: I love you all the way to the moon at night, but there’s no moon, so I can’t.
Mother: Do you love me all the way to the sun?
Julia: I love you all around the world.
Mother: That’s a lot of love for a mommy. I love you all around the world too.
Julia (in this little deep voice): That’s a lot of love for a Julia!

At this point, I just busted up laughing. Kids are adorable, and it’s nice to see a cute conversation, rather than the obnoxious brats you see most of the time. Written down, that conversation looks like nothing more than a pile of nauseatingly stupid sap. But watching it happen was pretty cool. I hope tomorrow’s bus ride is equally entertaining.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but down the street from me there is a convenience store. This convenience store is run by a bunch of people, duh. They’re nice, aside from the fact that things that cost you maybe a foot at most convenience stores cost the whole arm and leg here. But one thing they all share is they’re either Indian or Pakistani, and English is not one of their strong suits. They don’t like to answer their phone if you call them, and instead of “How may I help you?” all some of them can manage is “what?!”

Don’t get me wrong, they try to help me when I ask for stuff, and they know when they’re beaten and ask some random customer to point them in the right direction when they can’t understand me. But I’m just trying to paint a picture for you for the next part of the story.

So I come into the store and want to buy some margarine. Simple enough, right? I go up and ask for some. This is the response I get. “We have…hmmm…becel, and…imperial…and…I don’t believe this is, um, not, um butter?”

I had to suppress a laugh, because if I didn’t, I would have been laughing for a good minute straight, and that would have been embarrassing for all involved. That is the most entertaining way to say I can’t believe it’s not butter I’ve heard, and especially coming from people who can barely speak the language. it was like she was going out of her way to make it more complicated for herself. Maybe that is what I’ve been doing all along, making things too simple. Maybe I have to take the long way around to get what I want. Next time I go in there, I’ll ask for intelligenties and see if I get smarties the first time out. Wish me luck.