Selling One Guy Named Larry (1966)

it is a well-known fact that a child can be [Music] helped with special [Music] classes trained [Music] help through Vocational Rehabilitation but it is not a well-known fact that today there are 2 million mentally employed in Private Industry 2 million employed but another million could be employed and are not that's why we're selling one guy named Larry this is Larry on his way to a job interview Larry wants to be a warehouse man we'll sell him or I hope so just the way we sold willly Dow maintenance man 1.75 an hour Ralph Smiley Hospital attendant $125 a month with room and board Janette sakarov power sewing machine operator a135 an hour mark kahill landscaper assistant $225 an hour James bonafield restaurant utility man $1 an hour we found them all jobs when I say we I mean all of us who work in every state of the union in vocational rehabilitation many of a specialists in finding jobs for persons who are mentally 2 million at work but there are another million who could hold a job but who can't Land one why many managements don't understand what mental retardation really is don't know I was one who didn't know I just didn't understand my name by the way is Gary Stein co-owner and manager of specific plating company here in Los Angeles we hire anywhere between 42 and 50 employees approximately five to seven of these are mentally I hired my first mentally employee as a favor to a friend of mine he had a son with brain damage we gave him a chance we had many fears particularly in so far as the mixing with the female employees are concerned this is what I learned as far as the girls are concerned there is no more trouble than with normal employees and believe me there is trouble with normal employees special supervision as a matter of fact I have found that if you leave a mentally person alone they're anxious to show you what they can do and believe me they can do that boy over there started at 5050 cents an hour he's now getting overscale as are all the other mentally employees believe me they are worth it this isn't kindness it isn't charity it's business good business I want to keep them incidentally we work around a lot of dangerous chemicals here the accident rate with the mentally employees is nil with other employees about four or five a year did you notice that that shake of the head that I don't know mentally employees have a special value they know what they don't know most normal people don't they Bluff they don't ask this means mistakes mistakes cost money and that I don't like I know what you mean but here at the Judy company we have another good reason for employing the mentally many of our jobs are quite repetitious and it is difficult to hire and keep people to do these jobs M I think the sign is all ready will you please take it downstairs for painting we began employing persons who are mentally some years ago at first we didn't know what to expect but we soon found out that if you get the right person for the right job he does as well as anyone else that's why when people ask about how many persons we employ we say none a person who does his job isn't as far as we're concerned take Sharon and gertude here incidentally these two can switch jobs they have to because once we build up an inventory on one item they go on to another naturally routines change here's something I would like you to try the girls are sorting 40 different pieces of puzzles to be painted six different colors they sort from memory there isn't a mark on any one of these pieces 240 possible combinations from memory 240 chances to make a mistake and they don't if they did I wouldn't have them on the job of course not all employees can memorize adapt and change like this but then many employers have repetitious jobs that must be filled like the manager of the 620 club right here in Minneapolis this is Eddie Eddie washes dishes nothing else and he's happy Eddie had this job for four years before Eddie no dishwasher lasted for more than two months except one who was a man over 65 and he lasted a year Eddie is the right man for the right job as working in job placement for the mentally I'm required to find the right person for the right job and it all begins in a workshop when a boy or girl a man or woman comes to us some from homes some from institutions we interview them we test them before we begin their Vocational Rehabilitation at first first they are given simple repetitive work always the basic things are stressed good grooming punctuality responsibility we even teach them how to handle their money we teach our trainees all the good work habits that an employer expects of an employee if they progress they are given more complicated work we chart their speed their manual dexterity their adaptability how many different jobs they can do can they handle numbers but most importantly how much pride do they take in their work however I guess it's much the same in other parts of the country pretty much our patterns here in Miami are very similar the only difference is the difference in local needs employers often ask how much time does this training take it varies with each person some pick up skills faster than others that's why each gets individual attention the shortest training time is perhaps well two months often it's a year even more once in a while it's shorter for instance Barbara here learned to make out our payroll in one month Barbara is popular because everyone who is in training here receives wages all of our work is subcontract work the workshop is paid and we pay the workers payday is a big day in Los Angeles too but now let me make this point placement people who work in in this area realize that not all their trainees will be able to work in Private Industry not by a long shot some will remain in the workshop earning a small salary being useful happy and have no fear we will never unfortunately be able to offer many of these men and women to you as possible employees but we'll try to sell you the others whether it is here in Phoenix or somewhere else in the nation here at Goodwill Industries we attempt to train our boys to become good painters shoe repairmen do electrical repair work we find many good laundry workers I might say to be honest not all states or towns can offer such complete and special training all our graduates work right alongside regular employees look which girl is our trainee it's hard to tell but this is the one over here at the soda counter is another Workshop graduate her job description was to serve customers but she was capable of learning a new skill when a cashier went on vacation she took over no mistakes and this boy he not only earns his own living but supports his mother he does his job does it well just as she does and as she does as two million other mentally persons do as with any normal person not all of our graduates can be doctors lawyers Merchants Chiefs but they are people that doctors lawyers Merchants chief Chiefs need to support them give them time to think a talent God has not given equally to us all this training we give pays off in other ways too here in Phoenix in the last year 145 of our Workshop graduates have been hired by 74 different employers their hourly wage has ranged from 75 to $155 an hour together they earn $200,000 and over the same period their savings totaled $8,000 no wonder we had to have a class to teach them how to make out their income tax 10 of our graduates took their families off relief they're taxpayers not tax burdens as the National Association for children says the mentally can be helped but they are not always helped I know that I had a great deal to learn about the mentally rarded before I became involved in helping to co-sponsor the meat cutting project here here by the way my name is Gerald Greenfield and I'm president of the meat Cutters Union in Miami Florida prior to working with the mentally here my only knowledge of these children was through my daughter who was a counselor to camp for children who were I saw some of the pictures she had taken it wasn't good so when I was asked to train boys to become butchers all I could see were those kids with the big heads and I said no well they wouldn't take no for an answer and they brought me down to the workshop and there I learned something I learned about the spread of the mentally or the range or whatever it's called I was just like you the word person meant idiot I didn't know but I learned so I talked it over and our Union said sure we'd help and this school here at the Air Force Base is a result we picked 25 boys who we thought might turn into good journeyman butchers and what we've learned even even though we are only halfway through our training program is a good proof of that spread as of now we think 10 of these boys are going to make it they'll become journeyman butchers 10 or 12 won't but they'll be able to get jobs as meat handlers freezer men meat luggers sales clerks and shippers all the jobs that I can never keep filled in this short labor market jobs that are important and that pay well the other three or four I'm sorry to say won't make it at all but they'll make it somewhere even if they have to go back to the workshop I've been asked often why do this my answer is why not we need butchers we need people to fill supplementary jobs and let's face it in this country everybody's got a right to a job if he can fill that job they can they are take a look at the jobs the graduates of workshops are holding down they are helping the themselves they are helping others they can help you and yet when all these workers were suggested for jobs these questions were asked will they get along with others I mean my other employees don't they need constant watching or supervision will they really turn out a day's work or at least try can you depend on them I mean will they stick to their jobs good questions but when you ask them about your regular employees don't you get answers something like this well everyone gets along pretty well of course once in a while there's trouble that answer won't change even if you hire a person if I had to watch somebody all the time I wouldn't hire them of course there are two or three that I have to prod now and then once in a while you have to prod the mentally employee too a day's work everybody does a day's work at least most of the time the mentally employees have their good and bad days also you know it's funny there are certain jobs I just can't get people to stick to I'm always looking for Replacements here is where we who try and find jobs for our Workshop graduates can give a different a better answer a mentally person as any person who finds that he can contribute is Happy works hard but a person by his or her very handicap sticks longer the enthusiasm the Loyalty call it what you will lasts especially at repetitive jobs remember Eddie four years at a job that until he took over had to be refilled every two months except once when a man over 65 held it for about a year Eddie is not the exception which proves the rule actually what is mental retardation as far as you an employer is concerned a mentally person is a human being with a low IQ a human being who hasn't been able to do too well with the books and that covers a lot of us but books aren't performance and that's what you pay for actually all the boys and girls men and women you've seen holding jobs have IQs that range from 1/3 to about 3/4 of normal intelligence 1/3 to 3/4 and I've had employers who have looked at the tests my clients have had to take not one employer but many and they've said if I gave that test to all my employees I think half of them would be classed as then why aren't more mentally persons employed it's because in many employers Minds a person wears a label an incorrect one always because of lack of knowledge did it ever occur to you what this label does to a human being who wears it look at these hands they belong to a worker whose employer said they are invaluable And yet when we ask the owner of these hands if we could photograph her at work she said no when asked the why of the no she explained we recorded her reasons well I don't want my picture taken because uh so many people will think the wrong thing of me you know like in my neighborhood one time I went over to visit my neighbor she's moved from there now um I went over there and I started you know talking and she says you know what says um you're kind of nutty but she says but I don't know I I haven't figured out in what way Bo that hurt so I just went away from there it make me feel like I want to go in a hole and hide I wish before i' give us a chance give us a chance why not you should if you want to but to me as a person who has trained to help you with your labor problem we don't sell help the mentally we sell do you need a job filled may we see the job description what's required exactly then if we feel we have the person to do the job not any job but the job we say I think we have somebody for you I'd like you to meet him to interview him his name is Larry no sales pitch is a good sales pitch without the name of the place where you can buy the product or at least get more information if you're interested here are the places your state or local unit of the National Association for children your state or local Vocational Rehabilitation agency your state or local employment service office or Department of Public Welfare or your public school [Music] system