Poem: "A Better Place for Everyone"
This poem was commissioned by Dreamwidth user Fuzzyred. It also fills the "Wordless Communication" square in my 6-1-22 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. It is being sponsored in sections, one week at a time. This poem belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
Warning: This poem is mostly comfort and problem-solving, but it deals with disability and women's issues in frank terms. It's also a case where Shiv actually does a lot better than he thinks he does. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"A Better Place for Everyone"
[Tuesday, October 4, 2016]
Shiv came in after lunch,
irritably shaking water out of
his hair. The weather had
been fine earlier, then it
started pouring rain.
It wasn't freezing, but
the temperature had
fallen and the rain was
carried by a raw wind.
Shiv trotted downstairs
to the office where he was
supposed to meet La'Tavia Linn.
She was one of Boss Brown's
new hires, and they were working
on an ad campaign for Blues Moon.
La'Tavia wasn't there, though.
Shiv checked his vidwatch. He
was only like two minutes late,
really, and this fucking rain.
He checked other places
that La'Tavia might be, such as
the lunch room and the guest room.
Shiv finally found her huddled on
a couch in the library reading corner.
"Are you okay? You don't look okay.
Shit, can I help? Or should I just
stop bothering you?" Shiv babbled.
He'd memorized a bunch of lines
for situations like this, but when he
needed them, then he had a tendency
to panic and blurt them in random order.
La'Tavia groaned and shifted enough
to look at him. "Fibromyalgia. Pain day.
My fucking hand doesn't want to work,
it's too cold today, and I'm right-handed.
And just to make this extra special, I just
got my period, so now my stupid uterus is
trying to stab me to death with my own bones."
"Oookay. Did uh, the other gals show you
the comfort kit in the dottie?" Shiv said,
desperately hoping that they had.
"Comfort kit?" La'Tavia said,
slowly emerging from the couch.
"Come on, I'll show you where,"
Shiv said, since Heron and
Mallory would both kill him
if he didn't. He led the way
to the dottie, then propped
the door open. "Tidy supplies
and first aid are in the linen closet."
"What is all that?" La'Tavia said,
staring at the wide range of stuff.
Yeah, it had ... grown a bit, over time,
and by now it filled an entire shelf.
"Disposable and reusable options,"
Shiv said, waving at the tidy supplies.
"Basic painkillers. Heron's herbal tea,
some other moon time herbal remedies,
Mallory's favorite emergency chocolates,
Luci's Chinese stuff, some hoodoo oil
I don't even know who put it in there ...
oh hey, what's this?" He lifted a jar.
"Anti-inflammatory balm, that's new."
La'Tavia made grabby-hands gestures.
"I definitely want to try the balm," she said.
"Here you go," Shiv said, passing it
to her. "Try whatever you want."
"Thanks," La'Tavia said as
he backed out of the room.
"I'll run up to my apartment and
see if I have any armwarmers
in my craft basket," Shiv replied.
"Oh, and if you don't feel better after
twenty minutes or so, then go ask
Boss Brown for help. He has some,
uh, other options in the patch room."
Shiv shut the door behind him,
then thumped up the stairs.
Inside his apartment,
he rummaged through
his finished fibercrafts.
He only had two pairs of
fingerless gloves, and one
of those was the short blue that
he had made for himself. The other
was longer in ivory and honey colors.
Shiv grabbed both, then on impulse,
added the split-front shawl thing that
he'd made out of tweedy wool in
shades of khaki and cream. It had
tiny pops of color from shreds of
salvaged yarn in different tones.
He picked up his laptop, then
he went back downstairs and
checked on La'Tavia, who was
just coming out of the dottie.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Feeling any better yet?"
"I slapped heat patches
all over myself, then I took
a vitamin, a chocolate bar, and
something called Bitch, Please!"
La'Tavia said. She smelled
of herbs. "I hope it helps."
Shiv chuckled. "Oh, yeah,
that'll do it," he said. "That last
was designed for, uh ... women
who lead adventurous lives and
have no time for shit like this."
"I want a cup of tea," she said,
holding up two boxes. "Do you
have any recommendations?"
"Ragtime Gal has a redbush base
and is a great choice if you like
warming spice teas," said Shiv.
"Heron's is based on raspberry leaf,
so it tastes more like a green tea."
La'Tavia took a sealed packet
from the Ragtime box and put
everything else back. "I love
spice teas and I need the heat."
"We can get some hot water
in the lunch room," Shiv said,
offering her a pile of yarn goods.
"Meanwhile, I brought you these."
"Oh, they're beautiful," she said,
hugging them. "Thank you for
letting me borrow these."
"Keep 'em if you like 'em,"
Shiv said. "I got yarn
out the wazoo now. Pick
whichever you like."
"Longer works better
for me," La'Tavia said
as she wriggled into
the honey armwarmers.
Shiv stuffed his blue ones
in his pockets. "The shawl
has a split front so it'll hang
better and stay put without
needing you to tie or pin it."
La'Tavia bundled herself
into it and sighed happily.
"It's wonderful," she said.
They picked up cups of
hot water in the lunch room.
Shiv opted for ginger tea
since it was lousy out today
and he could use the heat too.
La'Tavia hunched over her cup
of Ragtime Gal like she could
suck all the warmth out of it.
She wiggled her right fingers,
then grimaced. "I doubt I'll
be much use to you today,"
she admitted. "I don't think
my hand works enough to type."
"You could take the day off, you're
on flex time, right?" Shiv said.
"I guess, but I hate to skip out,"
said La'Tavia. "I just got this job,
and I really don't want to lose it."
"You won't lose it," Shiv said.
"Most that'll happen is Boss Brown
chewing your ears about pushing
your body too hard, and believe me,
you don't want him doing that."
"Yeah, that'd suck," she said,
sipping from her cup of tea.
"How about light duty instead?"
Shiv said. "We're just doing ads
anyway. You talk, I talk, and I
can do the typing or drawing."
"That could work," said La'Tavia.
"Assuming my body holds up
instead of getting worse."
"We can also look for
other accommodations
that might help," said Shiv.
"Why are you being so nice
about this?" said La'Tavia.
"Some of my professors were,
but others were just awful."
"Recognizing and respecting
differences in others, and then
treating everyone like you want
them to treat you, will help make
our world a better place for everyone,
Shiv said. "Care and be your best.
You don’t have to be handicapped
to be different. Everyone is different!
I learned that from Boss White."
"I wish I could have met him,"
said La'Tavia. "I like Boss Brown,
but Boss White sounds ... special."
"He really is," Shiv said, trying to ignore
the inevitable ache in his chest. "Maybe
he'll come to visit and you can meet him."
"I'd like that," said La'Tavia. "So, what
were you thinking about accommodations?
Are you familiar with fibromyalgia at all?
I've had stuff for school and temp work,
but not an office with my own desk before."
"I know jack about most medical stuff,
but Boss White showed me a great site to
find workplace accommodations," Shiv said
as he typed on his laptop. "Here, look.
You can search by condition, complaint,
your work responsibilities, and so on."
Clicking on fibromyalgia brought up
a description and some accommodations.
Searching by limitations let La'Tavia pick
which symptoms she had, then gave
ideas for dealing with each of them.
Work functions had tips on
how to access information
and how to manipulate items.
The topical section had stuff
on assistive technology,
ergonomics, and more.
"Some of this looks useful,
but I hardly know where
to start," La'Tavia said.
"Not all my employers
were all this supportive."
"Their loss, our gain,"
Shiv said heartlessly.
"We got catalogs with
adaptive equipment for
daily living activities at home
as well as workplace tasks."
"I could probably manage
looking at catalogs," she said.
"Maybe something would help me."
"We can shop the accommodations closet,
too," said Shiv. "That has a bunch of stuff with
many uses, so we don't have to run out and buy
a new thing every time someone needs help.
It has all kinds of mats, handles, grippers,
and supplies for modifying other devices."
La'Tavia nodded. "Padding definitely helps,"
she said. "I need padded handles on things."
"We got whole rolls of foam tubing that
come in different sizes, plus boxes of
slip-on handles and pen grips," said Shiv.
"There's usually Splae in there, if nobody
used it up and forgot to order more.
And me, if you need modifications
of anything with rigid materials."
"Then yeah, let's check there
after this," La'Tavia agreed.
"It's so nice you have that."
Well, they needed it, because
gangsters got messed up a lot,
and not all that was the kind of
thing a patch room would fix fast.
"I can take notes," Shiv offered.
"Dymin taught me it a while back."
So La'Tavia read off things that
she thought might help, and
Shiv made a list of them.
"Adjustable workstation
and ergonomic chair, you'll
have to request," said Shiv.
"Boss Brown'll give you a card
to go shopping at an office store."
"Really?" La'Tavia said hopefully.
"Yeah, a couple folks got things
like that already," Shiv said.
"A lot of the small stuff we
should have in the closet."
When they got the end of
the list, La'Tavia said, "This
stuff should help me a lot."
"Great," said Shiv. "Next, do
you want social alert buttons?
There's a whole big section of
things to tell folks what's wrong
so they can help. And before
you ask, anyone who hassles you
about them will wind up cleaning
the johns for at least a week."
"Yeah, that would help, especially
when talking is hard," said La'Tavia.
Shiv remembered how sluggish
she'd been before he showed her
the comfort kit in the bathroom.
This section of the database
could be searched the same,
by disability, limitation, task,
topic, or accommodation.
In addition to buttons, it also
had hats, T-shirts, stickers,
iron-on labels, and images
for computer applications.
"Okay, let's see, they got one
for fibromyalgia," Shiv said,
marking it. "Going down
your list of symptoms, here's
a set for chronic pain. Oh, and
a wandering pain set that has
several location buttons."
"I'll take them," she said.
"Ooo, can I have this set for
invisible and variable disabilities?"
"Sure," Shiv said, adding that.
"Do you want to order these
online, or print them out to put
in a button machine?" Shiv said.
"We have a button machine?"
La'Tavia said happily. "Oh, that
will come in handy for marketing!"
"We have three," Shiv said. "Small,
medium, and large. We use 'em for
swag, wedding favors, and one option
to mark the Designated Drivers."
"Then let's use the button press,
it's faster and I can learn how
yours works," La'Tavia said.
"If ... you don't mind working it
today, because I probably can't."
"If it involves cutting things
or messing around with metal,
then I like it," Shiv said dryly.
He downloaded the files,
then sent the button pages
to the office printing queue.
"We can pick up the pages
in a few minutes, the printers
are busy right now," Shiv said.
"Meanwhile, do you want to look
at assistance and notification cards?
That's a whole 'nother section for
stuff that tells folks how to help
or when to back the fuck off."
"Probably a good idea,"
said La'Tavia. "Do they
have prewritten stuff for
fibromyalgia, or would I
have to make up my own?"
"Whichever you prefer,"
Shiv said. "This section is
a lot like CrapChat only it's
all free. There are stock cards
for all the conditions and limitations
listed in the database, as well as
templates you can customize."
In fact, if you ordered buttons
or other social alert products
directly from the site, you could
have them stuck on notice cards.
The site also included articles on
how to talk about your disability
and sample dialogs for each kind.
Shiv started by clicking on the entry
for fibromyalgia, which had a bunch
of cards in different styles with more
or less information about the condition.
La'Tavia picked one, and then they
moved on to the filter for limitations.
Again, each one had a selection of
stock and customizable cards that
described the problem and offered
ways people could help with it.
La'Tavia chose cards for
her most common complaints,
and Shiv downloaded them.
The accommodations filter
was pretty much all requests.
It even had a link list that
pointed to Omaha city services,
like the transit hubs and the libraries,
which offered their own cards for
customers needing extra help.
"Oh, those look so useful,"
La'Tavia said, leaning forward.
"I use the bus and libraries a lot.
What's the restaurant one?"
"For things like dietary needs
and people who need their food
cut small or want help eating,"
Shiv said. "We use those here."
"Then we should make a set
with the Blues Moon logo if you
don't already have that," she said.
"It's a free perk, with advertising."
Shiv downloaded all the card files,
then sent them to the printing queue
and also booked the next time slot
to use the office laminating machine.
"You probably want a card wallet
to carry these," he said, looking at
the list. "I like the corner-peg kind
that lets you fan out cards, because
it's easier to show just one at a time."
They had some on the site, but you
could get a cheap one at any office store,
or the fancier kind at a leather shop.
"Someone in my building makes
those with cute cloth covers or leather,"
said La'Tavia. "I'll get one from her."
"That's a wrap then," said Shiv.
"Accommodations closet next?"
"Sounds good," La'Tavia said,
and followed him over there.
"How about I hold the basket
while you pick what you want,"
Shiv said, taking one from a stack.
"Okay," said La'Tavia. "I doubt I
could hold one without dropping it."
Shiv pointed out things he knew
they had that were on the list.
They always had boxes of
grip straps and nonslip mats,
pads and cushions, holders,
and slip-on ergonomic handles.
There were no grippy gloves,
though, the box was empty.
"Well, that sucks," said La'Tavia.
"No problem, I know how to make
those," Shiv said. "All you need is
a thin pair of gloves and a bottle
of tacky gel, and I got those."
"Thanks," said La'Tavia.
"I could use a pair."
Shiv scribbled a note
on the whiteboard outside
the door about what to restock.
He found a dressing rod, which
was great for reaching, pulling, and
pushing all kinds of stuff. "Keep this
by your workstation," he suggested.
"Ooo! Scoop bowls!" La'Tavia said.
There was a whole stack of bowls
and plates for adaptive dining.
"Pick a lunch set," Shiv said.
"We got plenty of those."
La'Tavia piled dishes in
the basket, humming happily.
"Is that a hot sock?" she said,
pointing to the top shelf.
Shiv looked up. "Yeah,
but I'm no taller than you."
He had to open a stepladder
in order to reach the thing.
They also found a footstool
to put under her desk, so she
could stand higher instead of
needing to reach way overhead,
or just wanted to prop up her feet.
Shiv even spotted a space heater,
a little black cube that put out
plenty of warmth, and even had
a fan-only mode for cooling.
"Just having this should help
keep my body from locking up,"
said La'Tavia. "So thank you."
Shiv looked at the box of fidgets.
"Huh, maybe I should put some of
my fibercrafts in here. I've made
fidgets. I could throw in a few
of those armwarmers too, since
lots of folks feel the cold," he said.
Besides, they worked up fast --
he could make a short one on
a bus ride, or a pair of long ones
over the course of an evening.
"That would be great," said La'Tavia.
"You like fibercrafts? Not a lot of
guys are into that sort of thing."
Shiv snorted. "I'm not much
like other guys," he muttered.
"Yeah, knitting and crochet give
me something to do with my hands
other than ..." Stabbing people, but he
didn't want to say that. "... other stuff.
Besides, I love bright colors, and yarn
comes in so many pretty styles."
La'Tavia picked a few things
from the box of fidgets that would
help relieve her hand stiffness.
"I think that's enough for today,"
she said, eyeing the full basket.
"Okay," said Shiv. "Let's pick up
our printouts and then ... go to
your desk? Are you up to more?"
"I'm feeling better," said La'Tavia.
"I should be okay as long as I don't
try to bend or lift or do too much."
"No problem," Shiv said. He
propped the basket on his hip
and closed the closet door,
making sure that all the notes
about restocking were on
the whiteboard outside it.
They found their printouts
waiting in the outbound rack.
Shiv picked up those and
the appropriate button machine.
He took everything to La'Tavia's desk,
and yeah, she needed a new one --
most of these were built-in desks,
so they weren't adjustable at all.
Shiv started by cutting apart
the accommodation cards
and then laminated them.
"Do you have anywhere to put
these for now?" he asked.
"My cert wallet isn't full yet,"
said La'Tavia. "That will work."
She fumbled through the slow steps
of opening it and fitting the cards
into all the little sleeves inside.
Meanwhile, Shiv sorted the pages
and cut them into strips to make
the circles for the buttons.
Next he ran them through
the graphic paper punch.
He checked to make sure
everything had printed clearly
and the circles were crisp.
Some of them were cute with
little speech bubbles, others had
icons, and some just had text.
There was something to be
said for wordless communication.
Then he stacked the circles into
sets: chronic pain, wandering pain,
invisible and variable disabilities,
plus extras like fibromyalgia.
After that, Shiv set up
the button machine.
"How does that work?"
La'Tavia asked him.
"Here's the manual, you'll
want to study that if you're
going to make buttons for
ad campaigns," he said.
"For now, just watch me."
He put the shell, the paper,
and the clear cover into
the shallow die. Then he
swiveled the base and
pulled the handle down.
"That assembles the top,"
Shiv said. "Put the pin in
the deep die, swivel again,
and pull the handle. Done!"
He handed her the button
that read, I have fibromyalgia.
"I'm going to have so much fun
with this machine," La'Tavia said,
pinning the button to her shawl.
"You want to try making one?"
Shiv said. "It doesn't take
much pressure to use, and
it works with either hand."
La'Tavia wiggled her fingers.
"I might manage the left."
Shiv coached her on how
to put the pieces together,
then let her pull the lever.
"Oh hey, that is easy,"
La'Tavia said happily.
She pinned on the one
that read, Right Side Pain.
She let Shiv make the rest
of the buttons, though, so
she wouldn't overdo things.
He bagged up the ones
she wasn't wearing today.
"See, it's just a matter of
having the right tools, and
layers of plans in case things
go wrong," Shiv explained.
"Layers?" La'Tavia asked him.
"Yeah, Tolli and Simon taught me
this PACE thing," Shiv said. "You need
to have a Primary plan, an Alternate plan,
a Contingency plan, and an Emergency plan
in case the shit hits the fan somehow."
"I like that idea," said La'Tavia. "I can
probably get the hang of it eventually."
"That's good," Shiv said. "We use that
here at work and it helps keep things
smooth even when stuff goes haywire
or someone can't come in today. You
can also make a WRAP book that lists
your body problems and how to deal
with them when they start acting up."
"I had a WRAP book in college,
but afterwards I've moved around
so much it's out of date," she said.
"I should make a new one now."
"Ask Dymin how to log it at work
if you want to," Shiv suggested.
"You wouldn't be the only one."
"You know, Blues Moon is really
accommodating," La'Tavia said as
she looked over her haul. "Have
you ever done an ad campaign
promoting that to customers?"
"You mean like Boom Night when
half of Nebraska's Deaf population
shows up to play with the oobleck?"
Shiv said. "We don't actually have
to advertise that, they just come."
It had started out as a quick way
to show a Deaf customer what
the music was doing, then she
told a few friends, and they told
their friends, and it became
a regular activity at the club.
"Yeah, but if we do a campaign,
we can attract more customers,"
La'Tavia argued. "People with
disabilities don't always get out
enough to see things themselves,
but they subscribe to places like
GeekSqueak and BlackSheep."
Shiv laughed. "Yeah, I've got
contacts in both of those," he said.
"This is over my paygrade, but ask
Boss Brown. If he approves it,
then I will do the art for you."
"I need to talk to him anyhow
about an ergonomic desk and
chair," said La'Tavia. "How about
we work up a proof of concept?"
"Sure," Shiv said easily. He
picked up a sketch kit from
the idea center. "Hit me."
"I can copy the logo for
Blues Moon to print on
the accommodation cards,
but I'd love to see some art
for social alert buttons that
we could hand out as swag,"
she said. "Can you do that?"
"Easy-peasy," Shiv said. "I've
drawn icons before." She didn't
need to know he made them
to keep activities straight
when his brain fritzed out.
He started doodling ideas,
then his mind wandered to
some of the classes he'd taken.
If you made batches of icons for
SplatChat or communication boards,
you could get college credit for them.
Shiv wondered if that would apply
to social alert buttons. He thought
that it might. He'd have to ask
one of the art teachers about it.
Remembering something that Pips
had said about migraines, Shiv drew
the dotted outline of an alligator
attacking somebody's head.
Then he did one of fish
all over a person, captioned,
Chronic pain is like being
eaten by piranhas that
nobody else can see.
The next had an outline
of a big bully beating up
a smaller child, which read,
My body is picking on me again.
Shiv tapped his pen against
his teeth, then thought about
what else La'Tavia had said.
He drew a cartoon womb
as an angry pink cat with
its ovaries as fists holding
tiny silver knives. The caption
read, My uterus is a real c*nt,
with a frowny face taking up
the middle of the word.
La'Tavia looked over
and saw the cat, then
cracked up laughing.
"Oh my god, I want
that so bad," she said.
"Well, I drew it for you,"
Shiv reminded her. "Is there
anything else that you need?"
"I'll also want a big banner and
some divider bars for the ads,"
said La'Tavia. "Can you handle
making stuff like that as well?"
"Make a task list, don't think
out loud or I'll get distracted
from this bit," said Shiv.
"Okay," La'Tavia said,
and then just did that
instead of bugging him.
One thing Shiv had learned
about messed-up people:
they tended to put up with
a lot more than "normal" ones.
Yeah, he'd take that any day.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes appear separately.
Warning: This poem is mostly comfort and problem-solving, but it deals with disability and women's issues in frank terms. It's also a case where Shiv actually does a lot better than he thinks he does. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"A Better Place for Everyone"
[Tuesday, October 4, 2016]
Shiv came in after lunch,
irritably shaking water out of
his hair. The weather had
been fine earlier, then it
started pouring rain.
It wasn't freezing, but
the temperature had
fallen and the rain was
carried by a raw wind.
Shiv trotted downstairs
to the office where he was
supposed to meet La'Tavia Linn.
She was one of Boss Brown's
new hires, and they were working
on an ad campaign for Blues Moon.
La'Tavia wasn't there, though.
Shiv checked his vidwatch. He
was only like two minutes late,
really, and this fucking rain.
He checked other places
that La'Tavia might be, such as
the lunch room and the guest room.
Shiv finally found her huddled on
a couch in the library reading corner.
"Are you okay? You don't look okay.
Shit, can I help? Or should I just
stop bothering you?" Shiv babbled.
He'd memorized a bunch of lines
for situations like this, but when he
needed them, then he had a tendency
to panic and blurt them in random order.
La'Tavia groaned and shifted enough
to look at him. "Fibromyalgia. Pain day.
My fucking hand doesn't want to work,
it's too cold today, and I'm right-handed.
And just to make this extra special, I just
got my period, so now my stupid uterus is
trying to stab me to death with my own bones."
"Oookay. Did uh, the other gals show you
the comfort kit in the dottie?" Shiv said,
desperately hoping that they had.
"Comfort kit?" La'Tavia said,
slowly emerging from the couch.
"Come on, I'll show you where,"
Shiv said, since Heron and
Mallory would both kill him
if he didn't. He led the way
to the dottie, then propped
the door open. "Tidy supplies
and first aid are in the linen closet."
"What is all that?" La'Tavia said,
staring at the wide range of stuff.
Yeah, it had ... grown a bit, over time,
and by now it filled an entire shelf.
"Disposable and reusable options,"
Shiv said, waving at the tidy supplies.
"Basic painkillers. Heron's herbal tea,
some other moon time herbal remedies,
Mallory's favorite emergency chocolates,
Luci's Chinese stuff, some hoodoo oil
I don't even know who put it in there ...
oh hey, what's this?" He lifted a jar.
"Anti-inflammatory balm, that's new."
La'Tavia made grabby-hands gestures.
"I definitely want to try the balm," she said.
"Here you go," Shiv said, passing it
to her. "Try whatever you want."
"Thanks," La'Tavia said as
he backed out of the room.
"I'll run up to my apartment and
see if I have any armwarmers
in my craft basket," Shiv replied.
"Oh, and if you don't feel better after
twenty minutes or so, then go ask
Boss Brown for help. He has some,
uh, other options in the patch room."
Shiv shut the door behind him,
then thumped up the stairs.
Inside his apartment,
he rummaged through
his finished fibercrafts.
He only had two pairs of
fingerless gloves, and one
of those was the short blue that
he had made for himself. The other
was longer in ivory and honey colors.
Shiv grabbed both, then on impulse,
added the split-front shawl thing that
he'd made out of tweedy wool in
shades of khaki and cream. It had
tiny pops of color from shreds of
salvaged yarn in different tones.
He picked up his laptop, then
he went back downstairs and
checked on La'Tavia, who was
just coming out of the dottie.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Feeling any better yet?"
"I slapped heat patches
all over myself, then I took
a vitamin, a chocolate bar, and
something called Bitch, Please!"
La'Tavia said. She smelled
of herbs. "I hope it helps."
Shiv chuckled. "Oh, yeah,
that'll do it," he said. "That last
was designed for, uh ... women
who lead adventurous lives and
have no time for shit like this."
"I want a cup of tea," she said,
holding up two boxes. "Do you
have any recommendations?"
"Ragtime Gal has a redbush base
and is a great choice if you like
warming spice teas," said Shiv.
"Heron's is based on raspberry leaf,
so it tastes more like a green tea."
La'Tavia took a sealed packet
from the Ragtime box and put
everything else back. "I love
spice teas and I need the heat."
"We can get some hot water
in the lunch room," Shiv said,
offering her a pile of yarn goods.
"Meanwhile, I brought you these."
"Oh, they're beautiful," she said,
hugging them. "Thank you for
letting me borrow these."
"Keep 'em if you like 'em,"
Shiv said. "I got yarn
out the wazoo now. Pick
whichever you like."
"Longer works better
for me," La'Tavia said
as she wriggled into
the honey armwarmers.
Shiv stuffed his blue ones
in his pockets. "The shawl
has a split front so it'll hang
better and stay put without
needing you to tie or pin it."
La'Tavia bundled herself
into it and sighed happily.
"It's wonderful," she said.
They picked up cups of
hot water in the lunch room.
Shiv opted for ginger tea
since it was lousy out today
and he could use the heat too.
La'Tavia hunched over her cup
of Ragtime Gal like she could
suck all the warmth out of it.
She wiggled her right fingers,
then grimaced. "I doubt I'll
be much use to you today,"
she admitted. "I don't think
my hand works enough to type."
"You could take the day off, you're
on flex time, right?" Shiv said.
"I guess, but I hate to skip out,"
said La'Tavia. "I just got this job,
and I really don't want to lose it."
"You won't lose it," Shiv said.
"Most that'll happen is Boss Brown
chewing your ears about pushing
your body too hard, and believe me,
you don't want him doing that."
"Yeah, that'd suck," she said,
sipping from her cup of tea.
"How about light duty instead?"
Shiv said. "We're just doing ads
anyway. You talk, I talk, and I
can do the typing or drawing."
"That could work," said La'Tavia.
"Assuming my body holds up
instead of getting worse."
"We can also look for
other accommodations
that might help," said Shiv.
"Why are you being so nice
about this?" said La'Tavia.
"Some of my professors were,
but others were just awful."
"Recognizing and respecting
differences in others, and then
treating everyone like you want
them to treat you, will help make
our world a better place for everyone,
Shiv said. "Care and be your best.
You don’t have to be handicapped
to be different. Everyone is different!
I learned that from Boss White."
"I wish I could have met him,"
said La'Tavia. "I like Boss Brown,
but Boss White sounds ... special."
"He really is," Shiv said, trying to ignore
the inevitable ache in his chest. "Maybe
he'll come to visit and you can meet him."
"I'd like that," said La'Tavia. "So, what
were you thinking about accommodations?
Are you familiar with fibromyalgia at all?
I've had stuff for school and temp work,
but not an office with my own desk before."
"I know jack about most medical stuff,
but Boss White showed me a great site to
find workplace accommodations," Shiv said
as he typed on his laptop. "Here, look.
You can search by condition, complaint,
your work responsibilities, and so on."
Clicking on fibromyalgia brought up
a description and some accommodations.
Searching by limitations let La'Tavia pick
which symptoms she had, then gave
ideas for dealing with each of them.
Work functions had tips on
how to access information
and how to manipulate items.
The topical section had stuff
on assistive technology,
ergonomics, and more.
"Some of this looks useful,
but I hardly know where
to start," La'Tavia said.
"Not all my employers
were all this supportive."
"Their loss, our gain,"
Shiv said heartlessly.
"We got catalogs with
adaptive equipment for
daily living activities at home
as well as workplace tasks."
"I could probably manage
looking at catalogs," she said.
"Maybe something would help me."
"We can shop the accommodations closet,
too," said Shiv. "That has a bunch of stuff with
many uses, so we don't have to run out and buy
a new thing every time someone needs help.
It has all kinds of mats, handles, grippers,
and supplies for modifying other devices."
La'Tavia nodded. "Padding definitely helps,"
she said. "I need padded handles on things."
"We got whole rolls of foam tubing that
come in different sizes, plus boxes of
slip-on handles and pen grips," said Shiv.
"There's usually Splae in there, if nobody
used it up and forgot to order more.
And me, if you need modifications
of anything with rigid materials."
"Then yeah, let's check there
after this," La'Tavia agreed.
"It's so nice you have that."
Well, they needed it, because
gangsters got messed up a lot,
and not all that was the kind of
thing a patch room would fix fast.
"I can take notes," Shiv offered.
"Dymin taught me it a while back."
So La'Tavia read off things that
she thought might help, and
Shiv made a list of them.
"Adjustable workstation
and ergonomic chair, you'll
have to request," said Shiv.
"Boss Brown'll give you a card
to go shopping at an office store."
"Really?" La'Tavia said hopefully.
"Yeah, a couple folks got things
like that already," Shiv said.
"A lot of the small stuff we
should have in the closet."
When they got the end of
the list, La'Tavia said, "This
stuff should help me a lot."
"Great," said Shiv. "Next, do
you want social alert buttons?
There's a whole big section of
things to tell folks what's wrong
so they can help. And before
you ask, anyone who hassles you
about them will wind up cleaning
the johns for at least a week."
"Yeah, that would help, especially
when talking is hard," said La'Tavia.
Shiv remembered how sluggish
she'd been before he showed her
the comfort kit in the bathroom.
This section of the database
could be searched the same,
by disability, limitation, task,
topic, or accommodation.
In addition to buttons, it also
had hats, T-shirts, stickers,
iron-on labels, and images
for computer applications.
"Okay, let's see, they got one
for fibromyalgia," Shiv said,
marking it. "Going down
your list of symptoms, here's
a set for chronic pain. Oh, and
a wandering pain set that has
several location buttons."
"I'll take them," she said.
"Ooo, can I have this set for
invisible and variable disabilities?"
"Sure," Shiv said, adding that.
"Do you want to order these
online, or print them out to put
in a button machine?" Shiv said.
"We have a button machine?"
La'Tavia said happily. "Oh, that
will come in handy for marketing!"
"We have three," Shiv said. "Small,
medium, and large. We use 'em for
swag, wedding favors, and one option
to mark the Designated Drivers."
"Then let's use the button press,
it's faster and I can learn how
yours works," La'Tavia said.
"If ... you don't mind working it
today, because I probably can't."
"If it involves cutting things
or messing around with metal,
then I like it," Shiv said dryly.
He downloaded the files,
then sent the button pages
to the office printing queue.
"We can pick up the pages
in a few minutes, the printers
are busy right now," Shiv said.
"Meanwhile, do you want to look
at assistance and notification cards?
That's a whole 'nother section for
stuff that tells folks how to help
or when to back the fuck off."
"Probably a good idea,"
said La'Tavia. "Do they
have prewritten stuff for
fibromyalgia, or would I
have to make up my own?"
"Whichever you prefer,"
Shiv said. "This section is
a lot like CrapChat only it's
all free. There are stock cards
for all the conditions and limitations
listed in the database, as well as
templates you can customize."
In fact, if you ordered buttons
or other social alert products
directly from the site, you could
have them stuck on notice cards.
The site also included articles on
how to talk about your disability
and sample dialogs for each kind.
Shiv started by clicking on the entry
for fibromyalgia, which had a bunch
of cards in different styles with more
or less information about the condition.
La'Tavia picked one, and then they
moved on to the filter for limitations.
Again, each one had a selection of
stock and customizable cards that
described the problem and offered
ways people could help with it.
La'Tavia chose cards for
her most common complaints,
and Shiv downloaded them.
The accommodations filter
was pretty much all requests.
It even had a link list that
pointed to Omaha city services,
like the transit hubs and the libraries,
which offered their own cards for
customers needing extra help.
"Oh, those look so useful,"
La'Tavia said, leaning forward.
"I use the bus and libraries a lot.
What's the restaurant one?"
"For things like dietary needs
and people who need their food
cut small or want help eating,"
Shiv said. "We use those here."
"Then we should make a set
with the Blues Moon logo if you
don't already have that," she said.
"It's a free perk, with advertising."
Shiv downloaded all the card files,
then sent them to the printing queue
and also booked the next time slot
to use the office laminating machine.
"You probably want a card wallet
to carry these," he said, looking at
the list. "I like the corner-peg kind
that lets you fan out cards, because
it's easier to show just one at a time."
They had some on the site, but you
could get a cheap one at any office store,
or the fancier kind at a leather shop.
"Someone in my building makes
those with cute cloth covers or leather,"
said La'Tavia. "I'll get one from her."
"That's a wrap then," said Shiv.
"Accommodations closet next?"
"Sounds good," La'Tavia said,
and followed him over there.
"How about I hold the basket
while you pick what you want,"
Shiv said, taking one from a stack.
"Okay," said La'Tavia. "I doubt I
could hold one without dropping it."
Shiv pointed out things he knew
they had that were on the list.
They always had boxes of
grip straps and nonslip mats,
pads and cushions, holders,
and slip-on ergonomic handles.
There were no grippy gloves,
though, the box was empty.
"Well, that sucks," said La'Tavia.
"No problem, I know how to make
those," Shiv said. "All you need is
a thin pair of gloves and a bottle
of tacky gel, and I got those."
"Thanks," said La'Tavia.
"I could use a pair."
Shiv scribbled a note
on the whiteboard outside
the door about what to restock.
He found a dressing rod, which
was great for reaching, pulling, and
pushing all kinds of stuff. "Keep this
by your workstation," he suggested.
"Ooo! Scoop bowls!" La'Tavia said.
There was a whole stack of bowls
and plates for adaptive dining.
"Pick a lunch set," Shiv said.
"We got plenty of those."
La'Tavia piled dishes in
the basket, humming happily.
"Is that a hot sock?" she said,
pointing to the top shelf.
Shiv looked up. "Yeah,
but I'm no taller than you."
He had to open a stepladder
in order to reach the thing.
They also found a footstool
to put under her desk, so she
could stand higher instead of
needing to reach way overhead,
or just wanted to prop up her feet.
Shiv even spotted a space heater,
a little black cube that put out
plenty of warmth, and even had
a fan-only mode for cooling.
"Just having this should help
keep my body from locking up,"
said La'Tavia. "So thank you."
Shiv looked at the box of fidgets.
"Huh, maybe I should put some of
my fibercrafts in here. I've made
fidgets. I could throw in a few
of those armwarmers too, since
lots of folks feel the cold," he said.
Besides, they worked up fast --
he could make a short one on
a bus ride, or a pair of long ones
over the course of an evening.
"That would be great," said La'Tavia.
"You like fibercrafts? Not a lot of
guys are into that sort of thing."
Shiv snorted. "I'm not much
like other guys," he muttered.
"Yeah, knitting and crochet give
me something to do with my hands
other than ..." Stabbing people, but he
didn't want to say that. "... other stuff.
Besides, I love bright colors, and yarn
comes in so many pretty styles."
La'Tavia picked a few things
from the box of fidgets that would
help relieve her hand stiffness.
"I think that's enough for today,"
she said, eyeing the full basket.
"Okay," said Shiv. "Let's pick up
our printouts and then ... go to
your desk? Are you up to more?"
"I'm feeling better," said La'Tavia.
"I should be okay as long as I don't
try to bend or lift or do too much."
"No problem," Shiv said. He
propped the basket on his hip
and closed the closet door,
making sure that all the notes
about restocking were on
the whiteboard outside it.
They found their printouts
waiting in the outbound rack.
Shiv picked up those and
the appropriate button machine.
He took everything to La'Tavia's desk,
and yeah, she needed a new one --
most of these were built-in desks,
so they weren't adjustable at all.
Shiv started by cutting apart
the accommodation cards
and then laminated them.
"Do you have anywhere to put
these for now?" he asked.
"My cert wallet isn't full yet,"
said La'Tavia. "That will work."
She fumbled through the slow steps
of opening it and fitting the cards
into all the little sleeves inside.
Meanwhile, Shiv sorted the pages
and cut them into strips to make
the circles for the buttons.
Next he ran them through
the graphic paper punch.
He checked to make sure
everything had printed clearly
and the circles were crisp.
Some of them were cute with
little speech bubbles, others had
icons, and some just had text.
There was something to be
said for wordless communication.
Then he stacked the circles into
sets: chronic pain, wandering pain,
invisible and variable disabilities,
plus extras like fibromyalgia.
After that, Shiv set up
the button machine.
"How does that work?"
La'Tavia asked him.
"Here's the manual, you'll
want to study that if you're
going to make buttons for
ad campaigns," he said.
"For now, just watch me."
He put the shell, the paper,
and the clear cover into
the shallow die. Then he
swiveled the base and
pulled the handle down.
"That assembles the top,"
Shiv said. "Put the pin in
the deep die, swivel again,
and pull the handle. Done!"
He handed her the button
that read, I have fibromyalgia.
"I'm going to have so much fun
with this machine," La'Tavia said,
pinning the button to her shawl.
"You want to try making one?"
Shiv said. "It doesn't take
much pressure to use, and
it works with either hand."
La'Tavia wiggled her fingers.
"I might manage the left."
Shiv coached her on how
to put the pieces together,
then let her pull the lever.
"Oh hey, that is easy,"
La'Tavia said happily.
She pinned on the one
that read, Right Side Pain.
She let Shiv make the rest
of the buttons, though, so
she wouldn't overdo things.
He bagged up the ones
she wasn't wearing today.
"See, it's just a matter of
having the right tools, and
layers of plans in case things
go wrong," Shiv explained.
"Layers?" La'Tavia asked him.
"Yeah, Tolli and Simon taught me
this PACE thing," Shiv said. "You need
to have a Primary plan, an Alternate plan,
a Contingency plan, and an Emergency plan
in case the shit hits the fan somehow."
"I like that idea," said La'Tavia. "I can
probably get the hang of it eventually."
"That's good," Shiv said. "We use that
here at work and it helps keep things
smooth even when stuff goes haywire
or someone can't come in today. You
can also make a WRAP book that lists
your body problems and how to deal
with them when they start acting up."
"I had a WRAP book in college,
but afterwards I've moved around
so much it's out of date," she said.
"I should make a new one now."
"Ask Dymin how to log it at work
if you want to," Shiv suggested.
"You wouldn't be the only one."
"You know, Blues Moon is really
accommodating," La'Tavia said as
she looked over her haul. "Have
you ever done an ad campaign
promoting that to customers?"
"You mean like Boom Night when
half of Nebraska's Deaf population
shows up to play with the oobleck?"
Shiv said. "We don't actually have
to advertise that, they just come."
It had started out as a quick way
to show a Deaf customer what
the music was doing, then she
told a few friends, and they told
their friends, and it became
a regular activity at the club.
"Yeah, but if we do a campaign,
we can attract more customers,"
La'Tavia argued. "People with
disabilities don't always get out
enough to see things themselves,
but they subscribe to places like
GeekSqueak and BlackSheep."
Shiv laughed. "Yeah, I've got
contacts in both of those," he said.
"This is over my paygrade, but ask
Boss Brown. If he approves it,
then I will do the art for you."
"I need to talk to him anyhow
about an ergonomic desk and
chair," said La'Tavia. "How about
we work up a proof of concept?"
"Sure," Shiv said easily. He
picked up a sketch kit from
the idea center. "Hit me."
"I can copy the logo for
Blues Moon to print on
the accommodation cards,
but I'd love to see some art
for social alert buttons that
we could hand out as swag,"
she said. "Can you do that?"
"Easy-peasy," Shiv said. "I've
drawn icons before." She didn't
need to know he made them
to keep activities straight
when his brain fritzed out.
He started doodling ideas,
then his mind wandered to
some of the classes he'd taken.
If you made batches of icons for
SplatChat or communication boards,
you could get college credit for them.
Shiv wondered if that would apply
to social alert buttons. He thought
that it might. He'd have to ask
one of the art teachers about it.
Remembering something that Pips
had said about migraines, Shiv drew
the dotted outline of an alligator
attacking somebody's head.
Then he did one of fish
all over a person, captioned,
Chronic pain is like being
eaten by piranhas that
nobody else can see.
The next had an outline
of a big bully beating up
a smaller child, which read,
My body is picking on me again.
Shiv tapped his pen against
his teeth, then thought about
what else La'Tavia had said.
He drew a cartoon womb
as an angry pink cat with
its ovaries as fists holding
tiny silver knives. The caption
read, My uterus is a real c*nt,
with a frowny face taking up
the middle of the word.
La'Tavia looked over
and saw the cat, then
cracked up laughing.
"Oh my god, I want
that so bad," she said.
"Well, I drew it for you,"
Shiv reminded her. "Is there
anything else that you need?"
"I'll also want a big banner and
some divider bars for the ads,"
said La'Tavia. "Can you handle
making stuff like that as well?"
"Make a task list, don't think
out loud or I'll get distracted
from this bit," said Shiv.
"Okay," La'Tavia said,
and then just did that
instead of bugging him.
One thing Shiv had learned
about messed-up people:
they tended to put up with
a lot more than "normal" ones.
Yeah, he'd take that any day.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes appear separately.