My Dad vs. The Computer

Well, today I completed the beginning of the arduous task of applying for Social Security Disability. I don't know why I kept putting it off, but I'm glad I finally sat down and forced myself to do it. It took about 3 hours to complete online. Not an easy project. And it will be a long time coming and I will probably be denied the first time as most people are, as I've heard. The government makes it very difficult and I understand why, for the most part.

I was granted short term disability through an insurance company that the county uses some time ago now; I'm not sure if I mentioned that or not. I could also apply for long term disability through it, but I wanted to get on Social Security disability because I want to officially retire with the county when I do. I'm thankful I had the foresight to obtain and pay for this short and long term disability several years ago. Who would have thought I would be in this position today.

I'm not especially proud of applying for disability; I feel that it is the only thing I am able to do at this point. And like everything else in life, if you've never experienced it, it's not something you can totally understand, and therefore not be a judge of it. That's why I hate prejudice so much. People make assumptions about other people because of ignorance. It doesn't make any difference if it's a black teenage kid standing on a street corner, a single mom using food stamps at the grocery store, or a homeless man pushing a grocery cart and sleeping on the street. If you haven't walked in that person's shoes, you have no place to judge them or assume anything about them. It just makes me crazy when people do. It's at that point that I jump on my soapbox and begin to preach, sista!

Suffice it to say that I feel comfortable with my decisions and hope that the process isn't too overwhelming. Not like after I completed the application and emailed my dad a few documents that I needed him to print out because I don't have a printer. It's easy. Three documents to print out. What proceeded to take place was thrown way out of proportion. I don't know if he didn't know how to do it or what, but I offered to do it for him. Of course not - he knew how to do it. So I sat there and waited - impatiently - to print the 3 documents for me. He kept moving the mouse all around hitting the X and deleting it every time he opened one of the documents up. I kept saying, "Dad - let me sit there, I'll do it, no problem." He said, "No, no, I know how to do it, stop being so impatient."   "Yeah, but dad, what are you doing?  You keep deleting the document!"  "Stop being so impatient and shut up!  I'll figure it out," he says.  Well, we lovingly bantered like this back and forth as he monkeyed around with the mouse, squinting because he can hardly see and clicking on everything but what he was supposed to click on and it was driving me crazy.  Finally, after much talking and mouse-clicking and document-deleting, he managed to print the documents out for me.  Whew.  Three documents.  A secretary he ain't.