Rant #2,447: Glory Train

Today is my nine month anniversary of being out of work.

Heck, I could have had a baby during this nine-month nightmare ... metaphorically speaking, of course.

But my actual baby is hurting right now, and yesterday, we did something to bring up his spirits a bit.

Regular readers here know the story of my son as much as they know my story.

He has been on furlough for months now due to the pandemic, waiting patiently for the call to go back to work.

His department at work is a small one, but an important one for the company's operations, which is debt collection. During the pandemic, many of the company's employees have worked at home, but my son's job cannot be done at home, so while he does receive unemployment--one of my great "Houdini" acts during this period of wide unemployment, and to this day, I don't know how I did it--it really isn't very enriching to not have a workplace to go to.

My son is not your typical worker, and he did not get his job in a typical way. It was very difficult for people with disabilities to get jobs to begin with, but through a guardian angel who really did not know my son at all, he was able to secure his position. I have also gone through that story here previously, and rather than go into it again, let's just say that everyone needs a stroke of luck every once in a while.

But back to my son.

Since the pandemic struck and not only took away his work but also his social activities--namely bowling and basketball leagues--he has had absolutely zero social contact with his peers, and I mean nothing. He does meet in telephone visits with his mentor and with a counselor, but other than that interaction, he has had no contact whatsoever with any of his peers.

My son doesn't talk much, and is pretty shy and quiet, and some people take that as being aloof and uninterested. So yes, people didn't talk to him very much pre-pandemic, and they haven't spoken to him at all now.

No one has called him, no one has chatted with him on Facebook ... and he hasn't reached out either, which is his norm, as usually someone has to speak to him before he talks; he is never a conversation starter.

Back to his work ...

We have received periodic email messages from them, basically ones telling us to "keep the faith" and ensuring us that my son still has his job through the pandemic, even though he now hasn't worked for months.

They have been uplifting, and his supervisors really do like him as a person and a fellow employee.

So the other day, they told us that there was going to be a "parade"of company employees in ther parking lot of his work, and asked us if we would participate.

We jumped at the chance.

There were two sessions, an early and a late one, and with my wife home from her own work on her day off, we decided to participate in the early parade, so by noon, we had driven to his old work and met up with the people holding the parade, my son't fellow employees.

The glee on my son's face was quite noticeable, and I think he felt really good seeing people he had worked with--and hadn't seen since the pandemic hit us--once again.

The parade wasn't as much a parade as a team building activity. From our car, my son met up with his fellow employees, was given a few gifts and a company T-shirt, and pretty much, that was it.

So while the parade was short, it went a long way in making my son happy, happy that he was still part of his work family and that he was wanted and valued as a good employee.

We came home, and my son took his usual place on the couch, watching TV for the rest of the afternoon into the evening.

Yes, it is sad, we have tried to lift his spirits as much as we can, but that short trip, at least for a few moments, lifted his spirits more than we have been able to during the past several months of his inactivity.

Tomorrow, he has another challenge, as he has oral surgery scheduled to remove a bad tooth. About a year ago, he had similar surgery, came through it without a hitch, and we hope and expect the same result this time around.

Sure, I have been out of work for nine months, but I have managed to get through it fairly well.

My son is the real hero in all of this. Somehow, he has managed to stay afloat for all of this time.

My wife and I know that his situation bothers him, but it is truly out of his hands.

He hasn't complained, but I know the situation hurts him greatly.

Let's hope the next time he meets up with his fellow employees, it will be in the office that he works in, and he will be working again.

We can only hope.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.