John’s Workin’ 9 to 5!

It’s hard to get up in the morning because I have to wake up early two days a week and it’s hard to function because I’m a night owl and I like to stay up late and watch movies and listen to music.

I am differently-abled, so I don’t have to work, but I love my work. It’s fun and challenging and I do it right, so I keep at it.

What do I do for work? I put the pins on top of the bolt so that they are put together and matched up. It’s called… you know, I’m not sure.

You hold the black thing in your right hand. They use a wooden thing but I have a magic marker to keep the bolt from undoing. You have to hit it hard to make sure that the thing on top doesn’t unscrew. Now it’s very tight, so it’s harder. It’s hard to stop in the middle of what you’re doing when it’s time for lunch.

There’s always so much to do. I’ve gotten better at my job and am putting together more than before. It’s a lot of fast work to do, but it keeps me on my toes. It’s kinda relaxing and helps exercise my hands. It helps with my dexterity.

Sitting in the meetings now, things tend to get a little long, but they teach you how to do the bolts the right way; it’s harder to learn, but I do a good job. Putting the bolts together is harder than the stamp job I had before. It tests me physically. But I enjoy going to work and seeing everyone.

Before this, it was putting stamps on notecards. That’s where people would put their address and name and send it off in the mail. But that was in 1993.

Mail Room—Post something (not the Post Office), but like…  Post Net? The people were nice and it was fun. I did everything good from two in the afternoon until eight in the evening. It was a long time--- and when you work like that you get very, very tired. That was Monday, Wednesday AND Friday.

Now you see how that was very different. It went well. But then, after that... I said, OK... after two years, ‘til 1995... Let’s try something different... I like it, but it got too much to handle. I wasn’t spending enough time for me—I needed some me time, free time.

The worker program through the Citadel offered outings where you go out in the mornings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The people would pick me up and take me to movies and stores and bowling, etc. That went well, but then as the semester ended, there was another program that I got involved in.

Through the disabilities board, different workers would flip-flop days on taking me out.  Those outings were good. Sometimes we would go to different places to get lunch out—Wendy’s or Carey Hilliard's. And we would visit stores like Blockbuster or the Mall. This was throughout my twenties and early thirties and it helped increase my sociability and get out into the world. I got to talk to and meet all kinds of different people.

What would I want to do? I’m not really sure off the bat right yet.

What’s my dream job? That’s a tough question.

My favorite character in a movie—Bond—he's a spy. I don’t think I’d be very good at it, but you never know until you try.

I would like to maybe be a singer... or a spy like we were talking about (but I couldn’t tell anyone about that because I have to keep that a secret).

But, in a dream world where I could do anything at all, I think I’d like to be a professional singer. I know country is one of the genres I’d try for sure! I could do country, blues, bluegrass. I could try jazz... rap, not so much... rock n’ roll, I could maybe do that. I think I’d be more of a country and western singer in the truest sense of the word… Like Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb or Allison Krauss-like. ‘Cause I’m all the time singing in my head. I sing to myself all the time. When I’m in my back room I sing to myself where no one can hear me.

At work, there is music on the radio... sometimes I sing to myself there too.

I don’t really have a favorite person at work, but there are a couple of very nice workers and I like my boss. Every time I talk, I make them laugh. Even when I just say, “Hi, how ya’ doin’?” I’m pretty funny, I guess. I have good people to talk to. It’s a good work environment.

There are other people like me that are Handi-capable. I would encourage them to find something that they enjoy. Don’t just find a job. If you like it—do it, but don’t stay with it if you don’t like it.

Just make sure you try different things ‘til you find what you like to do; stick with it!

~ John Joyner