happy7117
11-11-2007, 03:01 AM
I have sort of a minor situation that I have to sort of get out. I hate long threads, but I can't explain it without having to make it lengthy!
I have been working at my current job for 8 years now. I love the employees, love what I do.
Anyway, we got a new employee on Tuesday named Francis who is super nice like everyone else.
She of course did not know everyone yet, so she did not know me.
I went over to introduce myself. I said "Hi! I'm Adam. Hello Francis" in a very happy enthusiastic way with no stutter. Must have been luck or something!
A few minutes later, one of the male employees who I have worked with for like a yr now, and who is wicked awesome and nice said to this new employee Francis "he's special".
That to me was a disturbing comment. I know what special means. Special means retarded, or mentaly handicapped.
I am not sure why this great guy would have used that term to describe me to this new lady employee.
I suddenly thought, "I am not special, because I am not retarded".
I also thought, "Am I retarded?? Could he be right in saying that I am special?
I also thought "Does the stuttering make me look retarded or special??"
Certainly, stutterers are known not to be retards, but could stuttering make us feel "special"??
I am not retarded as no stutterer is.
I wonder if he implied that I was special because of the stuttering??
I did not get mad at this fellow co-employee who I have always worked with for saying what he did. I did not say anything either.
I sort of kept it to myself.
I do wonder why he said what he did to this new female employee??
Special does mean retarded indeed, so he might have thought the stuttering made me look retarded.
Special also means one of a kind, and unique.
So I am not sure what he could have meant.
Are we stutterers in fact retarded or special??
Is it that some people describe stutterers as special because it is not in the norm for how we realy are supposed to talk???
It just bothers me that this great guy who I love helping out sometimes would say a word like this to a brand new employee.
Does stuttering make us feel like the odd one out, or the bad apple that spoils the whole bunch of apples in a barrel??
I probably would have not minded if he said something without the word special, like "he is a very enthusiastic fellow employee who loves to help others with a speech problem. Don't be bothered by it though!"
Thoughts, ideas??
Me and him have not had a beef yet, and we don't plan on having any beefs.
This guy as with all my fellow co-employees make my day very fun and fast believe it or not!
I have been working at my current job for 8 years now. I love the employees, love what I do.
Anyway, we got a new employee on Tuesday named Francis who is super nice like everyone else.
She of course did not know everyone yet, so she did not know me.
I went over to introduce myself. I said "Hi! I'm Adam. Hello Francis" in a very happy enthusiastic way with no stutter. Must have been luck or something!
A few minutes later, one of the male employees who I have worked with for like a yr now, and who is wicked awesome and nice said to this new employee Francis "he's special".
That to me was a disturbing comment. I know what special means. Special means retarded, or mentaly handicapped.
I am not sure why this great guy would have used that term to describe me to this new lady employee.
I suddenly thought, "I am not special, because I am not retarded".
I also thought, "Am I retarded?? Could he be right in saying that I am special?
I also thought "Does the stuttering make me look retarded or special??"
Certainly, stutterers are known not to be retards, but could stuttering make us feel "special"??
I am not retarded as no stutterer is.
I wonder if he implied that I was special because of the stuttering??
I did not get mad at this fellow co-employee who I have always worked with for saying what he did. I did not say anything either.
I sort of kept it to myself.
I do wonder why he said what he did to this new female employee??
Special does mean retarded indeed, so he might have thought the stuttering made me look retarded.
Special also means one of a kind, and unique.
So I am not sure what he could have meant.
Are we stutterers in fact retarded or special??
Is it that some people describe stutterers as special because it is not in the norm for how we realy are supposed to talk???
It just bothers me that this great guy who I love helping out sometimes would say a word like this to a brand new employee.
Does stuttering make us feel like the odd one out, or the bad apple that spoils the whole bunch of apples in a barrel??
I probably would have not minded if he said something without the word special, like "he is a very enthusiastic fellow employee who loves to help others with a speech problem. Don't be bothered by it though!"
Thoughts, ideas??
Me and him have not had a beef yet, and we don't plan on having any beefs.
This guy as with all my fellow co-employees make my day very fun and fast believe it or not!