THE AMP DIARIES
Corporate CELEBRATION DAYS:
As a working entertainer, lol, I've worked for a lot of corporations over the years. I spent nearly 10 years at Verizon Telephone in a sweat shop environment, 3 years at Bank of America, or shall I say "Bank of Guadalahara", and now at another bank.....
These large companies, have what I'll call "celebration days",
like "diversity", "African Heritage Days," , 'Rainbow Days " or "Gay Pride".
I remember in 2003 I lived with a boyfriend and his 19 year old daughter and 10 year old son. Jeff had suffered a bitter divorce and it wreaked havoc on his kids and our relationship.
He also was disabled with his leg amputated below the knee, and a prosthetic leg.
He passed in December after several heart attacks and his kids called from the hospital to give me the news that he was in a coma.
If you've ever seen someone on life support, it is not a pretty sight. The decision of whether Jeff would want to be artificially kept alive was left to Melissa, Jeff's 19 year old daughter.
What a heartwrenching decision to make.
I asked to take a breavement day for the funeral and was told because we weren't married I couldn't. I lived in the house, helped with his kids, yet although Verizon celebrated "gay pride" and paid insurance for gay couples, my relationship as a straight couple was not 'qualified." WTF?
Of course I went to the funeral and was saddened by the prospect of having to help the family locate life insurance policies, death certificates, paperwork etc.
The ex wife showed up at the funeral immediately wanting her son like he was a commodity, he hadn't even had time to process the course of 48 hours.
I always wondered, 'Why isn't there 'depressed people day" or "Celebration of biPolar People?"
Not too many people understand our behaviors or actions, coupled with being an entertainer able to "entertain' with multiple personas and performance styles; in fact, most companies I've worked for considered me some triangular object expected to fit in a round hole,. No "diversity" days were offered to me and my nemesis of psychological funks.
even a medical leave of absence branded you as a slacker, and eventually got you fired.
America is in a Great Depression, yet, we still watch the 'Beautiful People" on tv, and listen to the congressman complain about their 600,000 measly paychecks.
We're told "Be grateful you have a job', and we're asked to work for twice as less pay then we made 10 years ago, AND be perfect and automatically machine like from these corporations who mostly contract their labor without medical benefits, and outsource to other countries.
I have a friend Tyler who says, 'I don't care if people know i'm Bi Polar." good for him!
As a woman, of course, every man thinks it is a curse, and what man have you met who hasn't said their ex was "psycho?"
But I guess if you just say 'I'm BiPolar' and lets Celebrate it, perhaps now in this world a few more will come foward and get their rightful holiday stamped on the Corporate Calendar.
I'm just saying.........."what-ever."
AMP
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