Five years ago (April 29, 2017) I wrote "McAlister's Deli: A Paean." It was mostly a comment on how the business did a great job of hiring special needs folks and treating them right. And it ended with a suggestion that "you" should support McAlister's and eat there whenever possible.
I retract every word of that post.
A few hours ago--literally: six hours ago as I write this--I received a call from my son's manager saying that tomorrow would be Joe's last day, because she had to cut 50 hours from her payroll, and Joe's one hour per week had to go. I asked if Joe could volunteer, do the same work for no pay (which is the way he started there). She said no.
Joe had worked at that McAlister's longer than any other employee there--including his manager. Twelve years. He almost never missed a day, always gave advance notice when he did, and after work ate his lunch there every week...thus pretty much cancelling out his pay, since he made so little.
And he was given 20 hours' notice that he was being fired.
Most autistic people--and certainly Joe--rely upon schedules, regularity, dependability. Something that happens without notice is somewhere between a tragedy and a disaster. (No hyperbole.) It often ends with destruction and violence. It always ends with suffering.
Ten years. Twenty hours' notice.
Fuck McAlister's. Please don't eat there if you can avoid it.
2 comments:
That's horrible. I'm sorry.
Thanks, brother. It just shows how some people think of special needs folks: at best they're children, at worst they're sub-human.
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