Concordia Salus

 I just got my birthday present from Don- an Apple Pencil which I'm testing out.  Don was pleasantly surprised to know what he got for me, but is happy with the purchase 🤣🤣 So far I like it! It writes like a regular pen, and translates to typed text.. What a time to use technology! All the things I dreamed  of as a kid are coming to pass! It’s just fun! The coolest part is that each generation of technology gives rise to even more, so that it accelerates and the technology passes into oblivion quickly. The next version might be to allow me to think what I want and have it appear on screen 😆 The downside is that it becomes expensive to keep up. The question then becomes how much do I want to spend keeping up with technology? The answer for me is that I prefer to wait for mid-range tech, not for cutting-edge, but because mid-range is:

1.  likely to be more affordable,
2.  more sustainable and likely to stick around and
3. more easily integrated into my existing system than something that’s bleeding edge.

Gelling new tech, though, means a learning curve which can be either simple and intuitive, like this pencil is proving to be; or complex. Sometimes the more complex is rewarding, like learning a new program on language - I've spent HUNDREDS of hours trying to learn Serbian, but because I don't practice as regularly as I should my command of the language remains at the level of "Hello, my name is..." and my main accomplishment is being able "I am allergic to beef,” which is quite important! (And probably why I retained it! ) My lack of practice is NOT, I hasten to add, due to my Serbian / Croatian/ Bosnian/ Montenegrin friends’  negligence, but entirely my own laziness which is disgraceful to say the least. I mean, my sister-friend had her nieces visiting her for almost 8 months prior to the pandemic, and they had very little English. So I SHOULD HAVE been able to practice, but instead we relied on Google translate and talked that way.  Sadly, I remember very few of the new words she tried to teach me; although the teasing names have stuck! 😁 I don't think I'll easily forget “nestašna tetka” Specifically since it was not applied to me! Of course, "tetka baba" was my own creation, and I was (properly) slapped on the wrist for it!

My point about the technology, though, is that it’s marvellous. Particularly the adaptive tech which allows freer communication with people who are more limited. Long ago, back in the 1980's when I first became involved with the deaf community, I tried to make use of TTY which was effectively a precursor to text messaging.  It was slow, clunky and inefficient, but it allowed its users to talk over the phone. That was great. I hoped for something better, and it came along about 10 years later, in the form of direct messaging and then texting.  I’m able to talk with my deaf friends by text, video or any combination that they want! Add to that all of the other adaptive tech - like text to speech and OCR, and closed captioning... It's just wonderful!

Can I add stuff like facial recognition and fingerprints, and other biotech markers, all of which make it possible to use systems without needing to use keyboards, and it's even better! I ever learned that there are mice that are foot or toe controlled, giving more options!

Yes. There are problems, like privacy and surveillance and other such considerations.  I’m not overlooking those.  But I’m thinking about the opportunities that are opening up for people who were otherwise shut out of the workplace.  The pandemic has shown clearly that the rationale for keeping people OUT is weak and invalid, so we should be opening up to wider groups who can participate in the workplace of the present!! (Yes, present, which leads us to the future!). If someone can't physically be present in an office, there’s no valid reason to exclude them from the workplace. We have seen that there are ways for employers to accommodate this. Thanks to Covid-19, we’ve seen that we can be more adaptable to work options. I’m thrilled by this for so many reasons. 

I’ve never liked the idea of “bum in seat” as an indication of performance. It’s taken a long time for the “first in, last out” employee to be seen as not a good thing, and there’s no reason to go back to that!  I’ve worked for managers who thought it was a badge of honour to be the one who opened and closed the doors, and who considered that overtime showed dedication, instead of poor planning. I’m over that. I’ve battled through my career —shorter than I expected— to encourage a balance between work and personal life. I was exuberant when we were able to arrange work from home on a regular basis for my entire team.  Was it challenging to manage?  Yes, sometimes. But the job of a manager is to manage, which means dealing with situations that are less than ideal.  And allowing employees to work from home at least once a week benefits everyone, and I maintain that it improved productivity, morale and made for a better job experience. I think that opening the door to more “non-traditional” staff will just be a benefit overall, and we will overcome the teething problems, we may encounter. I mean, we opened up jobs to people with developmental problems, and were able to make it work, so for fully functional adults, we should be able to make more progress, right?

In my view, the more people who we can include, the better for everyone.  Yes, there are hiccups to deal with, but they are limited.  We have an obligation to ensure that we make it possible for as many people as possible can participate.  There should be specific, limited exclusions that apply to any type of job that restrict who can’t be a part of them, but otherwise, it’s a case of everyone can get a shot!  Right?

I’m off to bed, where my retired self will dream of a fully-inclusive workplace where I have limited input, and my fully-employed friends will correct my delusions. Good night all!  🙃😴