Meghan Smallwood 0:08
Welcome. This is the Post Secondary Transition Conversation. We focus on the ins and outs and everything in between of the transition process for families of students with disabilities. I am one of the hosts. My name is Meghan Smallwood, and I am a public school transition coordinator. As always, I have a co-host.
Patrick Cadigan 0:26
My name is Patrick Cadigan. I am also a public school transition coordinator.
Meghan Smallwood 0:31
Well, today we are lucky enough to have a conversation with one of my favorite presenters. He likes to come and chat with our team at school, and he's talked with many of our students. We have Thomas Smith, who is a former student from our county, but now employed for many years, and he's going to tell us all about what he's been doing. So, thanks for joining us, Thomas.
Thomas Smith 0:55
Welcome.
Meghan Smallwood 0:56
It's good to see you.
Thomas Smith 0:57
Good see you too.
Meghan Smallwood 0:59
So, I guess the first thing we want to ask is, can you tell everyone where do you work?
Thomas Smith 1:05
I work at Weiss Market in Laurel; store 45.
Meghan Smallwood 1:09
And you've been there for a while, right?
Thomas Smith 1:11
Yep, 16 years.
Meghan Smallwood 1:13
Oh my goodness, 16 years-that's longer than a lot of people have one job. You know that?
Thomas Smith 1:18
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 1:19
So what do you do at Weiss?
Thomas Smith 1:21
I do the trash, the carts, and rack them, the vestibule...
Meghan Smallwood 1:28
Oh wow! Okay.
Thomas Smith 1:29
And sometimes clean the bathrooms.
Meghan Smallwood 1:32
Awesome. So they have you working many different jobs there.
Thomas Smith 1:35
And the flower shop.
Meghan Smallwood 1:37
And what shop?
Thomas Smith 1:38
The flower shop.
Meghan Smallwood 1:40
The flower shop.
Thomas Smith 1:41
Yeah. On Monday, I took all the flowers was no good and put in in a dumpster in the back of the store.
Meghan Smallwood 1:50
Got to make sure they're looking nice and fresh.
Thomas Smith 1:53
Yep.
Meghan Smallwood 1:53
Now, when you started at Weiss, were you still in high school?
Thomas Smith 1:57
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 1:58
And you had a job coach come in to help you?
Thomas Smith 2:01
No
Meghan Smallwood 2:02
You just went and did it yourself?
Thomas Smith 2:05
Yep.
Meghan Smallwood 2:05
nd you were at a different Weiss, though, right?
Thomas Smith 2:08
Yes, 62.
Meghan Smallwood 2:10
So, how long have you been now at the the Weiss in Laurel?
Thomas Smith 2:14
15 years, Mom?
Lavonne Smith 2:16
I would say 10
Thomas Smith 2:19
10.
Meghan Smallwood 2:20
So it was a good change. Sounds like they're giving you a lot of more opportunities.
Thomas Smith 2:25
Yes.
Patrick Cadigan 2:26
Thomas, I heard you talk about some of the different jobs that you do, but out of curiosity, do you do the same job every day? Like when you come into work, if they need you to do carts, do you do carts for the whole day, or do...
Thomas Smith 2:41
...sometimes, sometimes.
Patrick Cadigan 2:43
Ok.
Meghan Smallwood 2:44
So you're very flexible on what they might need?
Thomas Smith 2:47
Yup.
Meghan Smallwood 2:47
That's important in a job. What's your favorite part of your job?
Thomas Smith 2:53
Say hi to customers and talk to customers.
Meghan Smallwood 2:57
You like working with the customers.
Thomas Smith 2:58
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 2:59
Do they come up and ask you for for help with things a lot?
Thomas Smith 3:03
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 3:04
Well, you have a very friendly face.
Thomas Smith 3:07
Thank you. And and sometimes they, yes they tell they tell me stay hydrate while you're drinking water.
Meghan Smallwood 3:15
Especially if you're outside with those carts. I bet. Yeah. What about in the winter time? You probably have to bundle up?
Thomas Smith 3:21
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 3:22
I always feel bad when when the carts or when someone's out there and it's freezing outside.
Thomas Smith 3:27
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 3:28
Do you like training, or do you get to train other people?
Thomas Smith 3:32
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 3:34
I think I saw you there once when someone new was starting and you were teaching them the job. Do you like that part of your job?
Thomas Smith 3:41
Yes.
Patrick Cadigan 3:42
Well, Thomas, what would you say is the hardest part of your job?
Thomas Smith 3:49
The doing the put the toilet paper in the slot. It's hard.
Meghan Smallwood 3:55
fine. Do you put the the toilet paper over or under? That's a debate.
Thomas Smith 4:01
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 4:03
Is there anything else you don't like about your job?
Thomas Smith 4:06
Nope.
Meghan Smallwood 4:07
I can tell you love your job.
Thomas Smith 4:09
Yup.
Meghan Smallwood 4:10
And you work with great people. Who's your favorite person there that you work with?
Thomas Smith 4:15
AJ.
Meghan Smallwood 4:16
And AJ is who?
Thomas Smith 4:18
The store manager.
Meghan Smallwood 4:19
He is great. I know we we've met him a few times. He's come to our business fair. Do you work closely with him every day?
Thomas Smith 4:27
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 4:29
What do you like about him?
Thomas Smith 4:31
He's a good team member. He's a good man, store manager to work with.
Meghan Smallwood 4:36
Yeah, and he he he relies on you for a lot.
Thomas Smith 4:39
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 4:40
He knows that you get the job done and you work hard.
Patrick Cadigan 4:43
Thomas, when you first started at Weiss, who was it that taught you how to do all of these jobs that you are doing? Was there someone specific, or did was it different people would teach you different things?
Thomas Smith 4:59
Mom? Who teach me different jobs? You didn't really have much of it. No, you didn't really have much of jobs other than bagging groceries. Yeah, as I bag groceries as 62.
Lavonne Smith 5:03
You didn't really have much of it.
Thomas Smith 5:05
No.
Lavonne Smith 5:06
You didn't really have much of jobs other than bagging groceries.
Thomas Smith 5:10
Bag, yeah, as I, I bag groceries at 62.
Meghan Smallwood 5:15
That can be hard to learn. Did you like doing that?
Thomas Smith 5:18
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 5:19
Okay. Do you ever get to do that now, or do you have other jobs?
Thomas Smith 5:23
No.
Meghan Smallwood 5:24
You've been promoted.
Thomas Smith 5:25
Yep, the cashiers just all of it now.
Meghan Smallwood 5:29
Oh, they do both. The cashiers have to do it themselves?
Thomas Smith 5:33
Yeah.
Patrick Cadigan 5:34
That can keep them busy, I would imagine.
Thomas Smith 5:36
Yeah, yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 5:37
What about when you have a question on the job? Who do you go to?
Thomas Smith 5:41
AJ.
Meghan Smallwood 5:42
What if AJ is not around? Do you have other coworkers you can rely on?
Thomas Smith 5:45
Yes, my friend Nana.
Meghan Smallwood 5:48
Yeah, does she work the same shift?
Thomas Smith 5:50
Yeah, he.
Meghan Smallwood 5:51
Oh, he.
Thomas Smith 5:51
Yup.
Meghan Smallwood 5:52
...works the same shift?
Thomas Smith 5:53
Yes.
Patrick Cadigan 5:54
And then I'm going to assume is that Nana?
Thomas Smith 5:58
Yeah.
Patrick Cadigan 5:58
And then is that your favorite coworker?
Thomas Smith 6:00
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 6:01
So, what does he and AJ do to help you?
Thomas Smith 6:05
Teach me stuff.
Meghan Smallwood 6:06
And how do they teach you by showing you what to do if it's something new?
Thomas Smith 6:10
Yeah, AJ does that a lot.
Meghan Smallwood 6:13
Oh, good.
Thomas Smith 6:14
Then I got to go work this past Monday and join the assistant store manager tell me, I want you come when before you clock in, come see me. And I did, and he told me get with all the flowers, in was not water in, and he told me I will do copper thing. I will show you what to do with the flowers. Then I will review by yourself to do the rest of them.
Meghan Smallwood 6:50
So when you go to work every every day, do you go and check in with them first to find out what it is they want you to do?
Thomas Smith 6:57
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 6:58
And then you just go on and do it. You know what you have to get done.
Thomas Smith 7:01
Yep.
Patrick Cadigan 7:04
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Patrick Cadigan 7:39
Thomas, how do you get to work?
Thomas Smith 7:41
I get work by my mom.
Meghan Smallwood 7:45
Mom brings you. Does she pick you up too?
Thomas Smith 7:47
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 7:48
Oh, gotta love that mom. What about with all that money you're earning at work? What do you, what do you do with it?
Thomas Smith 7:55
Save.
Meghan Smallwood 7:56
You're saving. Are you saving for something big?
Thomas Smith 7:58
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 7:59
Like is something special?
Thomas Smith 8:02
No.
Meghan Smallwood 8:03
Oh, okay. What's something big that you're looking forward to spending it on?
Thomas Smith 8:08
What do you think, Mom? Let me tell them about Torch Run Conference. On November 4, I got picked to go to Torch Run Conference in Michigan.
Meghan Smallwood 8:08
That's awesome! Are you flying?
Thomas Smith 8:22
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 8:23
How long is it for?
Thomas Smith 8:25
Four days.
Meghan Smallwood 8:26
Wow. So that'll be a good thing to save your money for.
Thomas Smith 8:30
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 8:31
Very cool. I've never been to Michigan.
Thomas Smith 8:34
Yep.
Meghan Smallwood 8:35
Some. What about um on the weekends, or if you you spending time with friends, you spend your money there?
Thomas Smith 8:41
No.
Meghan Smallwood 8:41
Oh, you're a saver.
Thomas Smith 8:43
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 8:44
I like that. Very smart.
Patrick Cadigan 8:46
Thomas. What is, what's your favorite part about having a job?
Thomas Smith 8:55
My favorite job is work hard, and team work makes the dream work.
Meghan Smallwood 9:01
That's a great motto. How does working make you feel?
Thomas Smith 9:06
Happy.
Meghan Smallwood 9:08
You, is there something you're really proud of that you do at work?
Thomas Smith 9:14
Help customers and get carts and make sure they're all in before you go home, and AJ said, make sure all the carts is in the thing before you go home every night.
Meghan Smallwood 9:29
Got to finish the job before you leave.
Thomas Smith 9:31
Yep.
Meghan Smallwood 9:32
And I do remember you telling us that you will fill in when someone calls out if you can.
Thomas Smith 9:36
Yup.
Meghan Smallwood 9:37
So you're willing to take on extra shifts.
Thomas Smith 9:41
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 9:41
What is your schedule typically every week?
Thomas Smith 9:43
Um, nine, okay, nine to five on Monday, nine to five on Tuesday, nine to five on Wednesday, five to nine on Friday.
Meghan Smallwood 9:58
That's right. You work the later shift Friday.
Thomas Smith 10:00
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 10:01
they know they can rely on Thomas.
Thomas Smith 10:05
Yep.
Meghan Smallwood 10:05
And if someone wanted a job like yours, what would you tell them?
Thomas Smith 10:09
It's good to work at Weis Market because it's a good place to work.
Meghan Smallwood 10:15
It sounds like you've got a good team, a lot of team work.
Thomas Smith 10:19
And they do the plunge.
Meghan Smallwood 10:21
That's right. They are members of the, they do the polar bear plunge. You got a team going there.
Thomas Smith 10:26
Yeah.
Patrick Cadigan 10:26
Wait a minute. I've I've not heard of this, Thomas, what is the polar bear plunge?
Thomas Smith 10:31
You jump in the cold water.
Patrick Cadigan 10:33
Why do you jump in the cold water?
Thomas Smith 10:36
I'm a I'm a silver plunger for 24 hours.
Patrick Cadigan 10:38
And you...
Thomas Smith 10:40
for special olympics.
Meghan Smallwood 10:43
...and if it's for Special Olympics, and you do that, you go and you jump in the cold water?
Thomas Smith 10:48
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 10:50
Yeah, it's it's not for fun. It's for raising money.
Thomas Smith 10:54
24,24 hours.
Meghan Smallwood 10:56
Yes, that you're a super plunger. I'm impressed.
Thomas Smith 11:00
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 11:00
I, I wanted to do it this year and I chickened out maybe next year, but I do know when we had our business fair and you and AJ were there. AJ was talking to one of our students who graduated this year and um was able to get him to apply and he is working at Weiss now and was very excited.
Thomas Smith 11:20
Where, where?
Meghan Smallwood 11:22
Over. I don't know the number of the store, but he lives over in the Hammond area.
Thomas Smith 11:27
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 11:28
So he was very excited, and he got to meet you and AJ. So it all came from being at the business fair.
Thomas Smith 11:33
Yeah, AJ said working at my store.
Meghan Smallwood 11:36
Oh, is he going to your store? Okay, I know he...
Thomas Smith 11:39
I think.
Meghan Smallwood 11:39
...he lived over by Hammond, but or he went to Hammond, so I know he lived over in that area. But they said with the store he's working at is pretty close to his house, so he could walk even.
Thomas Smith 11:50
AJ said his mom lives behind a Weis store.
Meghan Smallwood 11:54
Okay, yep, he I knew it was very close.
Thomas Smith 11:57
AJ said he lives behind the Weiss store because he sees his mom co, sometimes.
Meghan Smallwood 12:03
Did he start working yet?
Thomas Smith 12:05
No, not yet.
Meghan Smallwood 12:06
Okay, I know it's coming.
Thomas Smith 12:08
I think AJ said he's going to start after Brian from, the one who hires people. Then he will will be working.
Meghan Smallwood 12:20
Okay, awesome.
Thomas Smith 12:20
In July.
Meghan Smallwood 12:22
Well, he's a nice guy. He's quiet, but he's a good worker.
Thomas Smith 12:25
And AJ say he tell me that he's doing the carts with me, bathrooms.
Meghan Smallwood 12:31
We'll train him well.
Thomas Smith 12:33
I tell him. I I told him I. I said AJ can't train.
Meghan Smallwood 12:37
Yeah.
Thomas Smith 12:37
And he said you you can.
Meghan Smallwood 12:39
Awesome. Oh, that makes me happy.
Patrick Cadigan 12:42
That sounds like so much fun. Well, Thomas, thank you, thank you, thank you for talking with us.
Thomas Smith 12:47
Welcome.
Meghan Smallwood 12:48
Yeah.
Patrick Cadigan 12:48
Yeah, we really appreciated you sitting down, and we're so excited to hear about all the things you're doing. It's so cool.
Thomas Smith 12:54
Thank you.
Meghan Smallwood 12:55
Yeah, and I want more people to hear how hard you work, and we want them to go out and work maybe at Weis, maybe somewhere else, but just as hard as you do.
Thomas Smith 13:05
Okay,
Patrick Cadigan 13:06
Cool.
Meghan Smallwood 13:06
You're an inspiration.
Thomas Smith 13:08
What mom?. I work at the flea market with mom and dad.
Meghan Smallwood 13:13
Oh, when is that?
Thomas Smith 13:15
Saturday and Sunday.
Meghan Smallwood 13:16
I love a flea market.
Patrick Cadigan 13:18
Well, what do you do at the flea market?
Thomas Smith 13:20
We sell furniture, glass ware, and anything.
Meghan Smallwood 13:24
Where is the flea market?
Thomas Smith 13:25
Um, Baltimore, Baltimore Costco.
Meghan Smallwood 13:31
Oh, very cool.
Patrick Cadigan 13:33
Baltimore Costco. Okay, because when you said flea market, I pictured there is a flea market near my school.
Thomas Smith 13:39
I have a hard time saying that. Pa, pasco.
Patrick Cadigan 13:42
Patapsco.
Meghan Smallwood 13:43
Patapsco.
Thomas Smith 13:44
Baltimore.
Meghan Smallwood 13:45
Gotcha
Patrick Cadigan 13:46
Okay, because there is a flea market by my work. So when you said flea market, that was the one that I thought about.
Meghan Smallwood 13:52
Oh, I know which one you're talking about.
Patrick Cadigan 13:55
So Thomas, what when you are at the flea market, how do you help your parents? Like, what do you do?
Thomas Smith 14:02
Take the covers off the tops off the tables. Wait on customers.
Patrick Cadigan 14:09
You wait on customers?
Thomas Smith 14:10
Yep.
Patrick Cadigan 14:11
And then, do you like working at the flea market?
Thomas Smith 14:13
Yes.
Patrick Cadigan 14:14
You do.
Thomas Smith 14:15
Yeah.
Patrick Cadigan 14:15
Cool. I guess if you really like, because you had also said about Weis that you like working with people, so there's lots of people at the flea market.
Thomas Smith 14:24
Yeah.
Meghan Smallwood 14:24
Oh, yes.
Thomas Smith 14:26
And my Weis store is a train store.
Meghan Smallwood 14:30
Yes, because I know we've had students from our schools go there to practice their work skills. You get lots of people to train.
Patrick Cadigan 14:37
So tell tell me about that, Thomas. What does that mean that it's a train store.
Thomas Smith 14:41
A train store is when new people get trained. They can move on to another store.
Meghan Smallwood 14:50
So your your store is kind of where a lot of people start to get used to the job.
Thomas Smith 14:54
Job.
Patrick Cadigan 14:56
Wow, that's cool. I didn't know that stores do that.
Meghan Smallwood 15:00
And does AJ help with you to train all them?
Thomas Smith 15:03
Yes.
Meghan Smallwood 15:04
Awesome. So it really is teamwork.
Thomas Smith 15:08
Yeah.
Patrick Cadigan 15:09
All right. Well, I'll tell you what. The way that Ms. Meghan and I had set this up, we really wanted to sit down and talk with you. Now, what we're going to do, I'm going to stop the recording, and then we're gonna, we're gonna talk to your mom, but thank you, thank you for talking with us.
Meghan Smallwood 15:25
Yeah, appreciate it.
Thomas Smith 15:27
Welcome.
Patrick Cadigan 15:28
So plan to join Meghan and I back here in two weeks' time as we get an opportunity to speak with Thomas's mother, Ms. Lavonne Smith.
Patrick Cadigan 15:46
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