Erasers have been replaced by the ‘delete’ button; that concept alone is a peculiarity: of the mechanism used to expunge is itself made obsolete and disappears. It is a tribute to the human imagination that we can project scenarios in which individuals, including ourselves, are no longer part of the equation.
The anomaly, of course, rests in the reality that when we so imagine a scene which occurred, but of which we ‘delete’ certain events or individuals, the one who imagines such changes is omnisciently present by virtue of being the one who thinks and creates such thoughts. That is sometimes part of the problem in considering a change in one’s life; we are often incapable of imagining the change because we cannot fathom deleting our presence, or altering the circumstances, from that which we have known and traveled for so long.
Habitual dependence allows for a comfort zone which is difficult to traverse and alter. For Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition impacts one or more of the essential elements of one’s work duties, the problem is often not the capacity to imagine change — for the medical condition itself has forced upon the Federal and Postal employee the changes by virtue of physical or cognitive alterations — but rather, the problem often involves imagining the necessity of making changes based upon the changes already wrought.
Such second-tier changes require planning and implementation beyond that which the medical condition forces; and consideration of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether under FERS or CSRS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is a necessary step in that process of accepting further changes.
It is like the eraser protesting to the computer that complete obsolescence cannot occur, despite the inevitable march of technology and time. Oh, and by the way, they still do sell erasers.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire