Friday, April 18, 2025

Celebrating Autism Foundation

This month, Autism Acceptance Month, was established in the US to raise awareness about and acceptance of the developmental disability that impacts an individual’s experience of the world around them. (1)

I am celebrating the Autism Foundation this week. They aim to create a more inclusive and supportive world for autistic individuals and their families. (2) I love these organisations that strive to be inclusive for those who are different. They have many programs to help people understand how to engage with those on the spectrum and to help families and individuals with this disorder (3). We lose a lot when we don't allow different people to have a voice at the table.

As I stated in an earlier blog, there are a lot of people who have impacted our lives who have been diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. I have worked with people who have been diagnosed, and yes, they are different, but  I have enjoyed my experience with them.

One of my work partners, whom I won't name for privacy reasons, has a son diagnosed, and I have worked with his son on several community outreach projects and found that he is the most caring and hard-working person I have ever met. He never stopped working to support others when break time was called during our projects.  He always took on the most challenging jobs and excelled at everything he has taken on. Whenever he attended our community outreach projects, I would try to get paired up with him as I knew he would push me to work much harder at the event, trying to keep up with him.

Because someone is different, please don't shy away from them. You may find you are meeting an angel in disguise.

(1) Source Seramount.com

(2) Our Mission — Autism Foundation

(3) Services — Autism Foundation

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

Celebrating Diversity

This month, in the United States, the following Diversity Holidays are recognized;

• Autism Acceptance Month was established in the US to raise awareness about and acceptance of the developmental disability that impacts an individual’s experience of the world around them.
• Celebrate Diversity Month in the US recognizes and honors the diversity surrounding us all.
• Deaf History Month celebrates key events in deaf history in the US.
• National Arab American Heritage Month celebrates the Arab American heritage and culture and pays tribute to the contributions of Arab Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans.

* source Seramount.com

Why should we celebrate diversity? I think we grow more as a human race by allowing different perspectives to be considered. For example, here is some homework for you to understand how people of diversity enrich your life

1. Search for famous autistic people, and you will be surprised to see how many people there are out there who have enriched our lives through entertainment, science, and technology. 
2. If you search for Deaf Inventors, you will find Thomas Edison, Ludwig Van Beethoven, and many others. 
3. Reviewing the list of Arab Americans on Wikipedia will show you how much these individuals have impacted our United States Society.

We are a land of immigrants, except for our Native Americans. Diversity is our strength, which binds all together. Our culture is dictated by our absorption of all the different cultures that have come to America.

I can personally attest that being open-minded and allowing other perspectives to have a voice at the table will make you much more successful.

In my last assignment with UPS, I was responsible for a Global call center team based in Salt Lake City, the Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica. What this team accomplished in my 1 1/2 years was terrific. How they pulled together their different views and worked together made our team very successful in quickly improving service within the Preferred customer network.

Wednesday, April 02, 2025

Celebrating Hamako and Alicia Bridgewater

I'm sorry I didn't get this posted on Monday, the last day of Women's History Month, which celebrates all women for their contributions to history and society.

This week, I am celebrating my Wife, Hamako, and My Daughter, Alicia, who have made a tremendous personal impact and have enriched my life tremendously. 

 This October, I will have been married to Hamako for 41 years. We are both retired now, and I can honestly say we are living comfortably due to her financial acumen and willingness to kick my behind when I do stupid things, which still happens, as I am a kid at heart. As a child and young adult, I emulated Dennis the Menace regularly. Once I married her, I realised my actions would also affect her, so I quickly got out of that mode. She is relatively quiet but can give me, Alicia, or Chris a look that makes us feel we are about to die when we act up.

She loves working on the various community service projects we have done over the years, and I can honestly say she is probably the hardest-working volunteer I know. She does not like standing around and will jump wherever they need her. She is amazingly creative and an award-winning seamstress. Hell, she made her own wedding dress. 

I am who I am today because of her, and I also know that I am the boss of the family, but I have her permission to say so.

This picture is my favorite of her. It was when we rode to Death Valley on our Trike.

Her Wedding Dress

Alicia is my firstborn child. She is a very strong-willed young woman who is unafraid to tell her family and friends how she feels. Her discussions on life and how we should treat others have significantly impacted how I see things now. Sometimes, it's too easy for a man to see things through his perspective and think that is how the world turns, but listening and arguing with her over the years has changed my thinking. If you want an honest, unfiltered answer, Alicia is one to go to.  When I wanted to know if I was the A$$ in some conversation, I would talk to her, and she would give it to me very unfiltered. I respect her opinion, even though I may not agree at times. However, afterwards, I think about what she conveyed, and more often than not, I find that she had a lot of valid points.