The Others: Being Disabled and Getting a Job at Amazon

7 min readMay 1, 2017

I know. I just read that title too.

But that’s not where this story begins. Part of me thinks this story begins on a Tuesday because there’s something inherently different about Tuesdays. It’s that day of the week that’s different from any other day. The universe aligns. Courage comes easily. Problems are easy to solve.

Of course, the rest of me thinks this story begins on a Tuesday because I just looked at my email and it said it was a Tuesday.

But doesn’t it sound better the first way?

That Specific Tuesday

“… so how was your day?” my roommate asked after I let out an over dramatic shrug to let him know that was the question he was supposed to ask.

“Terrible. Horrible. Awful,” I said with my very best pouting face.

*long pause*

“… so why is that?”

“Well, I’ll tell you since you asked,” I said, parking my wheelchair across the room. “Amazon wrote me and asked if I’d like to apply for a job.”

*long pause*

“… so why is that terrible? You lost me.”

“Well,” I said, “you have to be really smart to work there, but I don’t think I’m smart enough. I mean, it’s an online test and it’s like an hour long. And then, if I pass it, then they’ll fly me out to Seattle to have another interview, but it’s hard for me to fly. Last time I flew somewhere, the airline broke my wheelchair. And then, if I pass, I have to move to Seattle. I mean, they’ll actually cover the cost of moving and everything. And Seattle happens to be my favorite city in the whole world. But I don’t know if I can get someone to move with me. And I can’t move by myself. Basically, my life is over.”

“… so wait,” my roommate said, putting his tea down down and arching his eyebrows. “Amazon is going to pay for you fly out to your dream city for what, worst case scenario, would basically be a free vacation.”

“Yes.”

“… and then if you pass, they’ll pay for you to move to your dream city.”

“Correct,” I said.

“… and then you’ll be surrounded by a group of the best in your industry to help you grow.”

“Also correct,” I said.

“… and all you have to do to get started is take a quick test,” he said.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

*long pause*

*roommate takes a sip of tea while staring at me judgingly*

*more pausing*

“So, yeah,” I said. “I guess the thing I’ve decided is that I’ll be in my room for the next hour so I can do this test thing. Because ambitious is the thing that I am now.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

A Few Weeks Later

“Wait,” my mom said. “You’re going to fly to Seattle for an interview? Who’s going to take care of you while you’re there?”

“Well, Amazon actually offered to fly a caregiver out with me, which is really above and beyond, so I’m going to have Aaron go with me.”

“But Aaron lives in Las Vegas and you live in Denver,” she said. “So you’ll have to fly by yourself. Who’s going to help you on the airplane?”

“Don’t worry about it. I make friends really easily, so I’ll just befriend the guy sitting next to me and then put him to work. It’s no big deal.”

A Few Days Later — At the Airport

“Hello Brian,” the flight attendant said. “It turns out that the only seat in the whole airplane that doesn’t have anyone sitting in it is the one next to you, so you get this whole area to yourself. Isn’t that great?”

“… well that’s just offensive,” I said.

I turned my head and looked across the aisle. “I LOVE THAT BOOK!”

The lady sitting there gave me a startled look. “Excuse me?”

“Chapter seven. That’s where it really takes off.”

“Oh,” she said. “You’ve read this?”

“Actually, no, I haven’t. But friends don’t lie to friends, and since we’re going to be friends, I can’t lie to you. We can be friends right?”

“Yeah,” she said, obviously a bit uncertain as to exactly what was happening.

“And friends take care of friends when they need help, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, giving me a smile. “You know what, they do.”

“Wonderful,” I said. “In that case, you’re in for a really busy flight. Here are all the things I’m going to need you to do.”

A Few Hours Later — Seattle

“Yeah, the flight was great!” I said to my friend over the phone. “I met this really nice lady on the plane. She was all outgoing and talkative, which was admittedly a bit odd, but we clicked and I told her all about me because she just wouldn’t stop asking questions and now I feel like we know all about each other. We’re like BFFs.”

“What was her name?”

“… … … hey my reception is really bad here in Seattle, so I gotta go.”

*click*

“Wow dude,” I said, turning to my friend Aaron. “We did it. We really did it. We’re in Seattle.”

“Yeah, I’m so excited,” he said as we stopped in front of the hotel door. “And Amazon is paying for us to stay here too?”

“They are. I’m so happy. I wonder what the lobby looks like. Let’s find out!”

“… so it’s a picture of Bill Gates in the Amazon lobby,” I said.

“… yep,” Aaron said.

“… I don’t know about you, but I’m getting mixed signals here.”

10 Minutes Later in my Room

“Soooo,” I said, looking at the pillows in the hotel room.

“Who gets to sleep on John Cena?”

The Next Morning

“Sorry I woke up so many times last night to be turned over,” I said. “Once every few months, that happens to me because of my disability.”

“Yeah I think you woke up twice an hour,” Aaron said. “But don’t worry about it. It was no problem, seriously. I’m just worried because you didn’t sleep and now you’re going in for a four hour interview at one of the toughest places in the world. Are you going to be okay?”

“Well, I’ll be fine. I just like to play life on hard mode. Normal’s just too … normal, ya know?”

“Yep,” he said as we stopped in front of the Amazon building for my interview.

“Well, we’re here,” I said. “How do I look?”

“Oh no,” he said. “You know your hair?”

“I know of it,” I said.

“Well, I forgot to do it.”

I felt my heart rate double. “Do I look okay?”

“Um … well … no.”

10 Minutes (And a Quick Comb) Later

This is the best bit. My very favorite bit. This is the part where I get to show off how smart I am, proveably, because of my interviews. So my interviewers walked into the room and …

[insert non-disclosure agreement here]

… and so, basically, as you can tell from the above, I totally nailed it. Especially when I did the thing.

The Next Evening

“Well, it was very nice to meet you, Brian,” the gentleman next to me said as he shook my hand and walked off of the airplane.

“It was so nice to meet you too and thank you for helping me this whole flight …” I started, “wait! WAIT! I didn’t get your name!” I shouted, but it was too late. He was gone. “Uuuuuggghhhh, I suck at everything. Oh look, I have a voicemail.”

A press of the button later.

“Hi Brian,” the voice began, “I’m calling from Amazon and wanted to follow up with you. First off, it was really great to meet you yesterday … and I wanted to extend an offer for the Software Development Engineer position. I just wanted to tell you before the weekend so you aren’t left wondering. I’ll talk to you next week. Congratulations again.”

Have you ever wished for something, but never believed it was possible — until it happens. And you actually have to remind yourself to breathe? And all you want in all the world is to get your favorite people together so you can tell them in person?

That’s what the word “happiness” means to me now.

A Few Weeks Later

So I’m living in Seattle now. I actually found a really great apartment — like a dream place. The lady from the building asked me if I wanted to look at this unit. I told her it seemed like too much for an apartment, but she told me she just wanted me to take a quick look.

“Okay, I’ll take a look, but I really don’t think …” I began as I drove through the door. “HOLY BANANAS!!”

Needless to say, that’s where I live now. I also made it through week one at Amazon. The people are wonderfully brilliant. The job is really fun.

I’m living a dream.