99 word prompt : inky
January 11, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about wet ink. It can be artistic, writerly or something completely off-the-wall. Go where the prompt leads.
If you want to participate, here’s the link: https://carrotranch.com/2018/01/12/january-11-flash-fiction-challenge
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“You say you’re dyslexic?” the head of human resources asked.
He held my application as if it contained a dead fish.
“Have you heard about the ADA?”
“You don’t use a wheelchair.”
“It’s 1995 and you still think the Americans with Disabilities Act only applies to wheelchairs?”
“I must have a secretary who can write!”
“I know, my handwriting looks like ink blots. Have you heard of a computer?”
“For what purpose?”
“I type 90WPM. This company uses a computer messaging system. The message goes to your inbox…”
“Computers will never last,” he smirked, sending me on my way.
Yes well there are many who thought that….did you ever see the Spencer Tracy Katharine Hepburn film “Desk Set”? Wonderful film about the introduction of computers.
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I’ll have to look that one up. 🙂
BTW: I didn’t believe I received notification of this reply. I’ve started checking the reply section just in case I missed someone. Sorry for being 2 days late.
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All good, hope you are doing well.
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Thanks. 🙂
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Ha! I like the opening exchange, and how he held her application. He apparently doesn’t have good judgment — an impairment.
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Makes you wonder who has the disability. 🙂
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Exactly!
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We were only saying the other day about when we heard that computers would be in every home. This was when computers were the size of a building, needed specialised operators and cost a fortune. We thought sarcastically ‘sure.’ Now they are in watches.
Loved the cartoon and your flash was excellent.
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Thanks. 🙂
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I th-ink he may be a d-
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Yep. 🙂
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Ha ha ha. Sounds so stupid in hindsight, but from their point of view, those slow clunky machines never stood a chance 🙂
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The first office computer I used was the size of an organ with disks 2 feet across. They were a pain to use and went *ding* every time you made a mistake. Pavlov would’ve been proud. 🙂
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This story seems to be touched with more than a hint of realism. Well done.
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It’s based on several experiences. 🙂
The particular man I based my character on was from 1992. I was the “guinea pig” in a class just after the American’s with Disabilities act was passed. People doing the hiring couldn’t ask about disabilities, and they were learning to do the behavioral interview. I’m VERY light sensitive and wear dark glasses anyway, but. for this class, I used my Noir pull-over sunglasses on top of it.
By the middle of the class-wide “interview” for a job as a secretary (using my real resume with a fake name), people thought I was blind an awkwardly skirted around the “blind” issue. Then, I took off the dark glasses.
Yes, there were gasps. At the end of the interview, one woman said, “I didn’t know it would be that hard.” Another man, in his 50’s or 60’s literally held my resume as if it were wrapped in dead fish and before he could say a word I told him, “I knew you weren’t going to hire me after the first 5 minutes.”
“What!?” He yelled out. “Why?”
“Your body language,” I said. Describing his arrogant, disapproving look the moment I’d walked in the door.
The class laughed and he went on a tirade.
At the end of the class a woman thanked me and said he deserved that humiliation. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing the background to the story. I knew there was more to it than fiction. How clever of you to wear those dark glasses and test everyone’s attitudes.
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It helped to teach how hard it could be to look past the differences to find the gifts a person might offer. 🙂
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There are lessons to be learned in every story.
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