first two days on the job
June 9, 2010
on the first day, exhausted from sitting there and listening to presentation after presentation, i leave the rehab center. as i'm sitting outside in the sun...listening to my iPod, waiting for my dad, and frustrated that he wasn't outside waiting for me, at the corner of my eye..i see a child..in a wheelchair just sitting by the garden. i also see a group of children waiting for the bus after school. and so what, you may ask? sitting there, in the sun, with a billion things going on in my head, i realized...how simple life COULD be and SHOULD be. it also made me realize how lucky i was. to be able to what i can do...walk, talk, drive, have a job, go out with friends...all of which could be taken away in a snap. and how lucky i am to have an opportunity to do..anything and everything, all the possibilities, without limitations or challenges.
i mean...i get angry at my dad for not being there when i'm done work...these petty things are ....well..petty. and if i didn't get mad, and i just sat there outside...by the garden, hours and hours and hours, without the iPod, without the cellphone, how bare it would be and how simple life would be in that moment. we truly take for granted many many things in life. living it in a downtown pace, fast, efficient and unpleasant. we could really learn a lot from these people and kids.
on the second day of orientation, there were many different stories shared. one about how it would feel to be the parent of a disabled child. she said...having a baby..is like an exciting trip to italy. so for those nine months of anticipation for the trip, you plan and plan all the places you'll go. all the sites, learn different phrases and pick up different books on Italy. and so...when it's time to go...you get on the airplane, sitting in anticipation and excitement, and the flight attendant says "welcome to holland". at first, you're confused, and shortly after, angry. but you stay in holland, because that's your only option, and you slowly but surely begin to enjoy it. after a few years, you start to notice that they have tulips..or windmills...or the cute houses. and while everyone is bragging about their fancy trip to Italy, you're in Holland. it's not bad, it's not disgusting...it's just...different. and in Holland, you really get a chance to catch your breath and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. well said.
another analogy that someone said was...imagine going out with your friends to a mall after school. you get to sit in the foodcourt and choose what you want to eat and what you want to buy. someone who is in a wheelchair, has to catch a special bus, and will never be able to go to a mall and choose what they want to eat. truly, these are the things we take for granted.
that being said, this has only been two days, and i've already started thinking and reflecting. this is going to be a crazy summer.
i mean...i get angry at my dad for not being there when i'm done work...these petty things are ....well..petty. and if i didn't get mad, and i just sat there outside...by the garden, hours and hours and hours, without the iPod, without the cellphone, how bare it would be and how simple life would be in that moment. we truly take for granted many many things in life. living it in a downtown pace, fast, efficient and unpleasant. we could really learn a lot from these people and kids.
on the second day of orientation, there were many different stories shared. one about how it would feel to be the parent of a disabled child. she said...having a baby..is like an exciting trip to italy. so for those nine months of anticipation for the trip, you plan and plan all the places you'll go. all the sites, learn different phrases and pick up different books on Italy. and so...when it's time to go...you get on the airplane, sitting in anticipation and excitement, and the flight attendant says "welcome to holland". at first, you're confused, and shortly after, angry. but you stay in holland, because that's your only option, and you slowly but surely begin to enjoy it. after a few years, you start to notice that they have tulips..or windmills...or the cute houses. and while everyone is bragging about their fancy trip to Italy, you're in Holland. it's not bad, it's not disgusting...it's just...different. and in Holland, you really get a chance to catch your breath and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. well said.
another analogy that someone said was...imagine going out with your friends to a mall after school. you get to sit in the foodcourt and choose what you want to eat and what you want to buy. someone who is in a wheelchair, has to catch a special bus, and will never be able to go to a mall and choose what they want to eat. truly, these are the things we take for granted.
that being said, this has only been two days, and i've already started thinking and reflecting. this is going to be a crazy summer.
Posted by Kimberley Chan.
