A couple days before my last day at work, I encountered my first "uncomfortable experience" with a potential client while I was screening her for eligibility to access the services.
Mind you that uncomfortable experiences are obviously relative. I would like to think that many of my experiences weren't always comfortable to the average person, but that I did a hell of a job treating people the way I would like to be treated in their situation. So after a year of doing this, working with vulnerable populations; sometimes mentally unstable, sometimes not sober-- like this recent one-- I finally felt like a line has been crossed.
I guess I just don't have any tolerance for disrespect, no matter what your situation is, how old you are, or what you do in life. To spice things up, while I was screening (talking to someone who is interested in services but we don't know yet if they're "eligible"), a new volunteer wanted to observe me conduct the screening.
Here's the thing about volunteers that volunteer for a social service organization: they're hyper-emotional and keenly sensitive to "the vulnerable individual" they encounter. Usually, that means the volunteer doesn't know how to say "no," feels overly sympathetic and will go out of their way to make sure things happen for this individual.
The problem with that is that you're a volunteer, not a social worker. You can't just refer people out to other organizations and change the rules around and let someone ineligible become eligible simply because you feel sorry for them. I still have trouble with this concept myself, but over the course of a year working to fight poverty and living downtown, it all boils down to sustainability. And sometimes, that means saying "no."
ERGO, having this new volunteer sitting and watching me, I couldn't just say to the potential client, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I just didn't want to deal with a conversation with the angelic volunteer about how much of a devil I was for doing such a thing. So I went through with the screening even though the client was being rude and obtrusive.
I ended up having to tell my supervisor that I felt uncomfortable finishing the screening.
I was shaken up and flustered and needed to walk away.
All that to say, I felt humbled by this uncomfortable situation. That despite how much I think I know and experienced while working with poverty-stricken people, I really don't. And so, I am eager to continue to learn.
