Remembering When: The workplace "open secret”
By Keith Schell
During my working years in the city, I was employed at the same factory for many years. In that time, I had the pleasure of working with an older gentleman who was a wonderful man—outgoing, jovial, hardworking, and sincere. He was a ray of sunshine on an otherwise dreary workday—a genuinely nice person.
When we worked side by side in the same department, operating different machines, we often helped each other out. If he was struggling, I would lend a hand, and he would reciprocate whenever he could.
However, at the end of every shift, as we tallied up our production totals, he would frequently ask for my help with his daily paperwork. Though he was a nice enough guy and I didn't mind helping initially, it started to wear on me after a while.
As I routinely calculated his production totals and reviewed his log sheets, written in rudimentary handwriting, I eventually came to the realization:
The man I was working with was functionally illiterate.
Under normal circumstances, I didn't mind assisting him—he was a good and decent person. But on the days when I was behind on my own work, having to handle both my paperwork and his could be quite frustrating at times.
Eventually, he transferred to another part of the plant. But later, I heard that his functional illiteracy and difficulty with numbers began causing issues in his new department as well. It eventually became an "open secret" among the people he closely worked with, but he was so well liked by his colleagues that no one wanted to do him any real harm by making an issue of it to higher management.
But the supervisors in his new department, being good and decent people themselves, eventually became aware of the situation. Working within a union environment, they made efforts to accommodate him as best they could. They managed to work around his challenges, eventually allowing the man to retire with dignity when the plant was finally closed for good.
Should his family ever recognize him if they read this, I understand the sensitivity of this subject and want to emphasize that this column was written with the very best of intentions and absolutely no names mentioned. Now that he has retired and has the time, I would gently encourage his family to explore adult literacy courses with him. He might think, "I'm retired now, so what's the point?" But it is never too late to learn, if you have the desire to grow. Difficult as it may be, any old dog can learn new tricks so long as they have the desire to learn.
With declining birth rates in South Korea, some rural elementary schools with dwindling enrollment have opened their doors to courageous grandmothers who never had the opportunity to learn to read in their youth because they had to stay home to look after their families. They now sit in class beside their grandkids, excited to finally get the education denied to them as children. And they are the only ones in school who like to ask for more homework!
And what a world it opens for the person who learns how to read! Dickens, Twain, Asimov, Clancy or Christie—or, for more Canadian tastes, Leacock, Mowat, Berton, Montgomery, and Atwood. Even the simple pleasures of a blog, a comic book, a magazine, or a handwritten letter. An entire universe of literature at your fingertips!
Reading and writing enable one to do all the everyday things that most of us take for granted: reading a menu; understanding instructions, directions, or street signs; reading a novel or a newspaper; using a computer or an iPhone; or simply enjoying a birthday card from a child or grandchild. Even signing your own name at the door for a package delivery! The list is endless.
In today's video-oriented society, fewer people read by choice, but there's a vast difference between choosing not to read and not knowing how to read. One is by choice; the other, by misfortune.
As someone who has always been able to read and write, I can only imagine the liberating joy of reading or writing something for the very first time. The growing sense of self-esteem and independence must be invigorating and empowering.
September is Literacy Month, and according to the Southam Literacy Survey of 1987, nearly one in four Canadian adults—some five million people at the time—were functionally illiterate, unable to read or write well enough to handle many everyday tasks. More recently, 2012 Government of Canada survey figures show that literacy and numeracy scores are highest in Canada at the ages of 25 to 34 but are still lower in most older age groups. And sadly, four of ten Canadian adults still lack sufficient levels of literacy to be fully competent at most jobs.
If you have someone like this in your own family, I encourage you to explore whatever adult literacy programs may be available in your area, either online or at your local school or library. Gently approach your loved one with this suggestion. For someone who has spent a lifetime hiding this secret shame, it may be extremely painful and humbling to face it in the here and now. But with improved assessment techniques and modern teaching methods, perhaps something can be done in the present to help right the wrongs that were done to these people in their childhood.
I know it will not be easy. It is incredibly difficult and humbling for an adult who, used to being the one always giving the help, is now the one who is in need of it. But the benefits of finally learning how to properly read will far outweigh the difficulties.
And a world of literature awaits!