Step outside Your World When I first thought about living a life in someone else’s shoes, such as this, I was a bit terrified. I was a little uneasy of not only what others would think of me, but how I was going to survive doing the things I do on a normal basis. For this activity I choose to lose live a day in the life of a person who only has one arm. It may not sound like I was going too far outside the box, but in all actuality it was very difficult. I choose this because my uncle married a lady who was born with no arm on one side and very little of an arm on the other.
Her left side arm is gone around her elbow and her right arm was not fully developed and she only has three fingers. She is truly inspiring because she can do anything that I can do with little difficulty. She works, drives, cleans, and just recently gave birth to a baby boy that she takes care of. This is why I choose this activity, to see how incredibly hard it actually is. I chose to do all my regular activities that she would also encounter. I started off at home by getting ready and then went off to work. I found out how difficult it truly was.
While I was at work not only did I have deal with my regular work tasks, but I also had to deal with the customers. I was surprised to find how many people had no concern for anything but themselves. I had a few complaints on how slow I was being and also got a few weird looks from others. I also found others being more lenient towards me. Either way I found that they are not treated equal either way. Learning Form the Experience I most diffidently felt uncomfortable in this situation for many reasons. I was not use to performing these tasks without the use of one of my arms, nor was I used to the looks and reactions I got from others.
This experience has changed my point of view by showing me that people need to have patience with others and yet at the same time there is no need to be overwhelmingly reliant on others. I have also walked away from this experience knowing that judging people is wrong and to treat people with respect all the time even when it is not convenient for me. Because I have experienced this I think that I will use my new point of views towards my customers and co-workers. I have a couple people that are in wheel chairs and I think that I tend to help them a little more than they need or want to be helped.
Businesses really seek and value employees with a diverse work experiences because every company will encounter diverse experience and they would rather have an employee that knows how to handle that situation. A business is always going to value an employee with more experience and knowledge whether it is dealing with the work or the customers, co-workers, and others. Businesses easily benefit from it. When customers are treated well they return and also with this diversity they know how to market to all different types of people, which will then bring in more consumers. Conclusion
Prior to this experience I do think that I had a stereotypical view toward people such as my uncle’s wife. I see this now because of this experience. I tend to be overwhelmingly helpful towards people such as her, not because I think that they cannot do it themselves I just feel bad that they have to try harder to do things. I have learned that a stereotype is a stereotype no matter what way you look at it. I previously thought that I was just doing the right thing by trying to help them, but now I see that I may be sending off a message that I don’t think that they can do things by themselves.
