Job History

Going back to see some of Sarah’s old schools made me remember when she was very small and she wanted to be a librarian, a scientist, or a firefighter. She also wanted to be a teacher for a while.

During Sarah’s very last year of school there was a concerning, confusing incident with the librarian at her high school. Sarah’s “job” in her school program had been working in the library helping to shelve books and so forth. Then, we found out pretty much by accident that her job had changed to sharpening pencils. We questioned why she wasn’t working in the library and why she was sharpening pencils instead. What sort of “job” was that? What was she learning or preparing for? She didn’t have the physical ability to run a sharpener anyway.

It turned out that a couple of months before, during the late winter, the librarian had made a fuss about Sarah’s wheelchair tracking snow and dirt into the library during bad weather. (This was a perennial problem with her powerchair.) Sarah had gotten offended and refused to re-enter the library under any circumstances. So this stopgap job was invented for her sharpening pencils.

We were surprised and dismayed that we were never informed of any of this and that Sarah had not gone into the library in several months. I met with the principal to talk about better communication, and we worked out a new placement for her in the Main Office greeting visitors. He reassured me that Sarah was welcome in the library and we strategized ways to get her over her library “phobia.” It was a positive meeting, and I was proud of myself for not screaming at anyone or burning down the school.

I wish Sarah were still here, working in the Main Office at her school. She really liked greeting people. As for that librarian, mean people suck. The principal told me she was having a hard year personally, and I didn’t press any repercussions. I’m not into that sort of pound of flesh thing. I don’t like to see other people suffer.