am a banker and i really have a very weird relation between my job and vitiligo , working in a bank requires alot of efforts in how you look and dress as they have those stupid protocols to shave ,wear suits and so ...
i dont think that my job is really helping me to feel comfortable with my vitiligo , on the other hand i cant really quit as am a recent graduate !
how do you guys find that mostly unspoken relational "between your work/ workplace and your vitiligo" ? do you guys love your jobs
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so i thought i should update this ,
my current job involves creating demos and give user training as a business software consultant , IRONY.
i kinda like how i can i tell that a lot of people who attend my sessions do not hear most of the instruction i give because they are staring at my hands on the whiteboard.
Work and family situations have been the hardest social situations for me, because my vitiligo is progressing, and it wasn't too long ago that I looked different. (I very rarely speak to anyone about it.) Now that one of my eyebrows is falling out, I deal with a lot of anxiety being around people I know. But when I'm out doing errands and encounter strangers, I interact with confidence/border-line arrogance. I guess I'm trying to practice being comfortable with myself; and ultimately, I care much less about what people I don't know think.
Anyway, with work and school, my life is really hectic right now, and I find that I spend a lot of my time reading about or coping with this condition. I've fallen behind in both areas as a result. I've thought about taking a leave from work, but I'm not quite sure yet.
(FYI -- I manage group homes for children with autism.)
First I want to say, Thank you for doing what you do. Working with children with any varying degree of challeges, especially autism can well be a challenge in itself sometimes. I am a teacher and I see the strugles many of these kids (not only with autism) have every day, and know the frustrations they and many others have. I find since I have been diagnosed with Vitiligo, I understand a little more what it is like to be "different". I have learned to use my Vitiligo as a teaching tool, while learning from many of these children, along with friends who were born with physical disabilities that it is ok to not go with the main stream. I think we can learn so much from children, because they don't care that someone looks a little different, they normally want someone to play and interact with them. We loose that as we get older, and begin to focus on differences rather than similairities.
I have found since I stopped worrying about it ( I was diagnosed about 6 years or so ago) that people don't even mention or even notice it. I guess I'm lucky in the fact that fully pigmented I am fairly pale anyway, so as long as I don't tan, it's not as noticable. I stopped trying to cover it up and just go as I am for the past 4 or so years, and I have found I have less anxiety over it. That being said I still have moments around some people, but for the most part I try not to spend much if any time around them. They were mainly friends of a friend, but they are so caught up in when we go out, your hair and make up had to be just so, that it was just too much work to feel like I fit in.
I hope you keep up the great work, You're such a valuable person to these children. Let what you do and believe define you, you are obvioiusly a caring and compassionate person to do what you do.Don't be defined by Vitiligo. It's a part, use it as a positive tool. I know easier said then done, but you'll get there. People don't judge us as much as we judge ourselves.
wow , its been a while since i checked this.
maybe new answers from newer members can be also postie
UP again :)
Hello, good question. I enjoy my career and have been with the same company for many many years. My vit has gone from a little to a whole lot, initially; I was not happy about how my vit was spreading over the years but I am very comfortable with it at work because I see a lot of the same co-workers and customers for the most part, so the majority of people around me are use to my unique beauty marks LOL. So I’m just me and my vit doesn’t bother me at all.
Hello there
I work in a bank as customer service. And yes its hard because you are in the public eye. 99% of my customer who has known me since I have been working there asks me because they are concern and most knew I did not always looked as I do now. But the new customers just either dont see it or to afraid to ask about it.
lol , i love it when people are afraid to ask .... it gives my psychic power over them !
BTW most of the times when people are thinking about us like "what is wrong with him " bla bla
we can totally tell :)
hello Amr and T D W, right now I work part-time in retail, and although none of my co-workers have looked at me "strangely" I know they are likely curious as to why underneath my eyes is sooooo white (yes even WITH good makeup, this store has very bright florescent lights that do not conceal anything well, really)...but I just try to roll with it, it's my job to do what I have to do, I try to keep my distance as much as possible, and just do what they are paying me for, I just wish I wasn't so obsessed all the time with how bad I think it looks under those lights all the time. And I think that is key, it's how bad I think it looks, although I take careful steps to cover it every single day especially on work days (and I work very very early morning shifts, sometimes they begin at 3 am.)....I think if you let it, this can and will control your entire life and what you choose to do and don't do...and I am sick of living like that, to be honest...I purposely wake up a full hour and fifteen minutes BEFORE each shift, to make sure I have plenty of time to do the makeup thing and not be rushed about it. I hate itas it SUCH a process and some days it looks great and others it looks terrible, but as time goes on, am starting to accept it as part of my daily life, and besides what are the other options? I have a job, I need to get there and do my job to the best of ability and I cannot change this, so the best I can do is to change my "attitude" about it, make the best of it, and use a great makeup line in the meantime (I use MAC currently thank you so much Roseanna!!!!!! It is great stuff).... But MUCH easier said than done, believe me...
HMM interesting and inspiring read tina , thank you for sharing that.
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