Redemption at a Bottle Recycling Center

So I get my work package. I find a document that I’ve never seen before. Its heading is about a bottle redemption center. We don’t make deliveries at a place like this. I ask them at work what is it about –nobody knows. I kid them with, I can’t figure out if I am making a delivery or picking something up –is it a half trailer, full trailer or no trailer. That’s a pretty funny statement if you are a truck driver. I find out later while on the road that I am to pick up recycled empty bottles. They still don’t know how much I am going to pick up.

So I get up there. I had a little trouble getting into the back of the building; I had to run over a snow bank spinning my wheels. I notice a man standing just outside the front door. I get out the truck, the man is saying something about my spinning wheels –he moves his hand in the spinning gesture. To my surprise he is a mentally challenged individual. When I go inside I see five mentally disabled men and one Downs woman –plus a staff member. These men were all happy and smiling. They all ask me a bunch of questions.

One man shows me what room we are going to be working on –he tells me I am going to be bringing out these boxes to my truck. As I grab four our five boxes overloading my hand truck –the pile falls over breaking a ton of bottles. We all have a good laugh over that. These guys are all happily talking to each other throughout my time there. They sort the bottle in the redemption center. What a blessing I’d seen that day.

As to the quality of the job there for these guys –who has a perfect job now a days. These guys were doing something productive to fill up their days. The community was continuously coming in and going –these men were actively interacting with the public and the public was interaction with them. I am certain I didn’t see all the little glitches that happened through the day –I know it is not a perfect setup. But it was very good life from what I have been exposed too with the disabled. It is a template for what I expect with the care of the disabled in the USA.

As far as protecting a person from risk –you are stunting the growth of the disable and non disabled alike when you shield any of us from taking chances and picking up risk. It’s fundament to maturity and learning.