Am I the only one who don't want a job?

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I worked in the life insurance department of a major assurance company for twenty-two years. Some of it was very stressful, but some was interesting.

In the section which processed claims caused by death it was interesting reading the death certificates - there were a few murders. Also when I worked on the underwriting section it was interesting reading people's medical reports.

I enjoyed working late at night - until 10 o'clock or even later - when the whole building was quiet.

I left that job, moved house, graduated from university, and then received Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) , as it is called in the UK. I am no longer claiming JSA because I am living on money I inherited from my mother. When I was claiming JSA I was not harassed much by the staff at the Job Centre. I expect that was because I was doing voluntary work. I was not put on any work placements or so-called training schemes. After I wrote a note to the staff telling them of my self-diagnosis of autism, they went easy on me as regards getting a job.

I have a lifelong problem with psychosis, so I have no work history. I guess the employers just assume I was a gang member in prison or something. I finally started my own business as a mobile computer repairman. I like driving, and I like getting out of the house. I haven't had very many calls yet though. I'm thinking of refurbishing laptops and selling them for extra money. I have been on SSI my entire adult life, and it's a point of pride for me to want to get off it. I believe that anybody who can work should work. I take powerful antipsychotic drugs so I CAN work, so I could go to school. I hate taking the drugs, but I do it so I can work.

I don't know if the problem is that people don't want to work, or that the work available is degrading and dehumanizing and the boss intentionally treats the workers like sh*t just so they know their place. Much of the modern work world seems to be oriented around degrading the individual employee as much as possible, and then making it so they can't quit and have to stay there and take it. That's more like a Old Southern plantation than a workplace.

I don't like working either and I wish I didn't have to, but I want to be independent and I am able to work, so I do it.

Working wouldn't be so bad if I could do it from home or work alone. I hate having to deal with a lot of sensory issues and people at work all the time. It wears me out.

The problem with a lot of these unpaid work programs that they often send disabled people to is that it can really zap the motivation to work right out of you.

You drone away at tasks intended for mentally challenged people, for absolutely no compensation. You are talked down to on a frequent basis, and they pretend like they're doing you a favour by getting some free labour out of you. My ex-boyfriend went through that system, and he's still on welfare.

The problem with that system is that they try to teach mildly disabled people to be content with working for free, so that they'll appreciate a minimum wage position ten times as much. But all it really does is send the message that even minimum wage work is beyond their reach, and that working is pointless.

It's especially insulting when these disability organizations advocate FOR these programs, even in cases where the disabled person in question has a history of paid employment. Instead of advocating for these programs, they should encourage the people they're serving to seek paid employment. Send 50 resumes, instead of 5. Don't give up so easily. These are the messages that these organizations should be sending. Not, "Oh, no one will hire you. Offer your services for free, and then maybe they'll feel sorry for you and offer you part time after three months."

My disability organisation got me doing computer work, helping customers edit their photos on the photo kiosk, film processing and helping other employees out. So I think I was doing work a bit above mentally challenged.
It was good. I know where I stand now. It was also very exhausting and stressful. I couldn't remember a lot of my orders and when I tried to I get it all wrong. I couldn't work any longer than 6 hours. I kept getting dizzy spells too.
If I had the choice I wouldn't work, but if most people had the choice they wouldn't work and society would be in a great deal of trouble. My NT friend always complains about his job as an IT software developer despite getting $80k a year for it. What if all the staff of your favourite restaurant or cafe decided they didn't want to work? Who's going bring you your usual meal or favourite coffee?
My disability job network want to help me start my own photography business. I put off working all these years because I wanted to be a band photographer more, so this way I could make it something I earned money for.

I actually don't mind doing mundane work. Unpacking boxes really made the time go by much quicker than I thought. I like arranging things by size and colour and putting things in order. I think I was just happy to finally prove to myself that I could work.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Got_Fingered

@Tollorin -- As a Canadian, it is your sworn duty to love and embrace this film!

I wish some person out there, some employer
would not have his/her head jammed firmly
in their armpits when I try to apply for a job
that I know I can do.

I'm trying to get more business as a video editor,
self employed, but I still have to be on disability,
dang it, I want a job why won't the world ever give
me a fair chance at it? They always turn me down
for jobs I KNOW I can do, not a fair chance ever,
is that what means "Life is not fair"?

I tried other jobs and got kicked off of them,
tried being a plumber, janitor, maintman,
restraunt worker, all fired.

Dad would say poop like "What is so hard
about pushing a broom?" I said I don't know
dad, I just have my own way of doing it, I try.

Ironicly I can fix the floor buffer if it malfunctions,
I took the motor apart and cleaned it up and
replaced the brushes and the boss guy
almost pooped his trousers, "How come he
can't sweet a floor but he can fix a broken buffer?"

I just can NOT sit about for most of the day doing nothing,
I gotta keep my mind busy with something, so I
edit video, stuff I record, stuff people pay me to
do first priority of course. If no one will hire me,
I will hire myself, I have had this self employed
job for about 2 years now, and it is working out
very well, just not making enough to live on,
but I hope for that to alter, more clients, more
money. I don't expect to get rich, just expect to
live.

I dont care about working. I have no motivation. Whats the good of having money when youve been told going to be all alone in the world for the rest of your life? Thats probably not the right attitude but thats the one we're all supposed to have, right? (sarcasm!)

Funny enough, there was a period where i believed i didnt have AS, and i was eager to go look for employment. Maybe its all in the mind...

When i was younger and just starting out in the workforce after dropping out of school i loved doing repetitive menial tasks which others hated. What got to me though was that i took things slowly and ensured a 100% accurate outcome. My employer preferred that i rush through and have what they considered an acceptable trade off for accuracy. I hated being pushed out of my comfort zone. Now i push myself to achieve results in a specialist science field to get myself a much higher level of employment. I am definitely noticing the effects though and find i have to balance a careful line so i dont push too far.

Your lucky to have that skill.

I worked in stage management for about 8 months when younger. The pressure of London drove me off the rails.
I worked in care for a period, and actually, I enjoyed it, but I hated the attitude of those who had been there longer... I have issues with authority. I was fired and given no reason at all, but I am thinking it is because I spoke out to someone about how badly some of the staff were treating the residents, and it was true. I was appalled.
I have intermittently looked for part time work just so I can make some money of my own.
But for the most part, I have not worked since I finished at uni 4 years ago. I went looking, and looking every day and there was nothing I was qualified for, and in the end the stress just broke me down and I was signed off.
I know, know, know that anything that involved dealing with a lot of people would not work.
Also, I am just so prone to psychotic episodes under stress, along with the fact I have COPD ( emphysema from when I smoked), OCD, underactive thyroid, panic disorder, clinical depression, PTSD and suspected AS. Sometimes I feel so worthless, and useless for not being out there achieving something that others consider an achievement... and wonder if I am just a lazy so and so.
I want to write... I have always intended on writing books, but when you get into the rut of depression and considering yourself to no longer be capable of it, it makes starting very difficult.

So yes, I am on uk incapacity, and I cant say I feel especially great about it. I was seen by one of their own medical professionals and have not had to have a sick letter since, so I am presuming I was deemed unfit to work.

But surely, if I can walk, I can work.

I don't want a "day job". Being a cog in the machine is something that doesn't appeal to me at all. How do you live life if you're slaving away everyday, then come home to eat and sleep, and wake up to do it all over again? That's just not life to me, I don't care how normal and acceptable it is. That whole "that's just the way it is" rhetoric is BS.

I do, on the other hand, want to be my own boss, and make money as an entrepreneur. I've always been that way, even since childhood. Making money on my own terms, by my own rules. As a photographer and artist I've done a decent job, but I know I'll do far better when I move to San Francisco.