Hi,
Ray writes:
Ann, Thank you for what you said. All of you, listen to the business
news once in a while. It won't be long until you hear of Company A or
Company B laying off workers or moving its headquarters. Happens all of
the time in the corporate world.
Indeed it does.
Time was, the companies that made blindness products were small
companies that didn't suffer the aches and pains of the corporate world.
Those days are gone. The companies that make the technology we all use
and depend on are no better than other major corporations when it comes
to having to deal with change. The sooner we all realize that, the less
hyper many of us will be. And, don't tell me I don't know what I'm
talking about; I was the victim of corporate downsizing at a major
telecommunications company over six years ago. It's been the best thing
for me, though, as I have found my calling working in the field of
adaptive technology.
Amen to that. I spent nearly sixteen years at Big Blue, International
Business Machines, as a mainframe programmer. Although I enjoyed
programming, it was essentially a thankless job in which nearly the only
feedback that I got came from people bitching about this bug or that bug.
When I got laid off in 1994, it was when a major shift occurred with in IBM;
it didn't matter that I played a key role in developing applications for the
marketing division. Through no fault of my own, I along with many coworkers
were "declared surplus" and given the sack. People like me who thought we'd
be with IBM for life unless we screwed up royally were told that our
functions weren't needed any more, period, end of story. Was I angry and
bitter? Damn right I was, but there wasn't a bloody thing I could do about
it.
So, after a couple of years of re-educating myself and re-discovering my
calling, I, too ended up in the field of assistive technology, and it's much
more rewarding. I'm an independent consultant and also work part time as an
instructor at a local nonprofit, and I see the tangible benefits of the work
I do every day. That's much more satisfying. Will I get rich from it?
Hardly, but karmically it's a much better deal, I'm sure, and that's
important to me.
Tom
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