By Max Barrows
I would like to share with you my experiences with co-workers on a number of jobs I’ve had. My previous jobs were in the restaurant business. The interactions I had with co-workers were not close, but I was friendly to them and they were nice to me. I was not tempted to make friends at the time. When things would get busy, I would just focus on what I had to do. Most of the time, I was isolated from a lot of my co-workers since I was in the dish pit.
All of my bosses were pretty protective of me like everyone else. Really, it is their job to make sure work environments are safe. I haven’t experienced being harassed. Some co-workers, as well as my boss, observed me having conversations with myself, and were curious to know why. At first, it was a bit embarrassing and I would struggle with whether or not I should answer. Later, I found a way to explain why I talk to myself without saying what my disability was. If anything, I didn’t feel that the co-workers were giving me a hard time. They were just very curious.
Language can be a problem. I only heard the “R” word a couple of times on my previous jobs. I expressed my opinion with a co-worker, but that conversation didn’t really go anywhere. I know today that the “R” word is a huge issue for some other people on the job. For example, a couple of self-advocates I know said it’s used quite a bit by people they work around. They have expressed how uncomfortable they feel when they hear it. One Self-Advocate said they would speak up about how they felt toward the “R” word to their boss and co-workers. It is important to speak up about it in a way that people can understand, without being too offensive. Another self-advocate said that they get the message from their boss to deal with it themselves.
Today, I work for a disability rights organization. So, the relationship I have with my co-workers is much easier. It’s good to have close friends at work, but there is one thing you should be aware of. You need to balance how much you socialize with your co-workers with sticking to the work you are required to do. In relation to this, I do remember a boss on a previous job set a rule that was one person on break at a time. That way, not too many people would be standing around when things needed to be done.
My advice is if you have close friends from work, you can make plans to spend time with them outside of work to maintain a good relationship. For example, there is going to the movies, going bowling, going out to eat, or playing cards. So, working is worth it, despite some of the social challenges around co-workers.