Hi everyone,
This is my first ever Reddit post. I'm writing on behalf of my dad for some much needed advise. He's my hero and I really want to help him. Please help me. Here's the background story: My dad used to own a bakery overseas (Puente Alto, Chile)and has worked very hard since he was a child. The bakery was great until the supermarkets started to compete aggressively and he soon realised that he couldn't compete against the big guys. He and mum would work and manage the bakery around 363 days a year from 6am to 9pm. No holidays besides Easter and Christmas. Ever. Around the same time the security got really bad. I remember in one month there were 3 break ins and they just decided they needed a change. A traumatic one if necessary given that we didn't speak English. One big part of the decision to come to Australia was also to give me and my brother a decent chance in life by having access to a good education. So he and mum sold the bakery when he was 45, while we lived in my grandparents home, he enrolled in an English course and went to Australia for 5 months. At the time (2007) people around us thought he had left my mum and had gone mad!! I mean, to other people we had a house and a good business. But he was determined to do it for the family and to the surprise of many he did it! He found a bakery and would study every week and go to the countryside to work on the weekends. We got a temp visa and now we are citizens. The issue: He continued working in that Bakery but had an injury in his knee while working. After that, he continued working in physically demanding jobs until early this year he injured his shoulder and arm and was forced to stop working. The employer won't admit they're liable because they didn't issue a report when it happened. Its heartbreaking to see him in this situation when I know he just wants to get back to work. Obviously I've wanted him to change to a less physically demanding job but age discrimination is real. On top of that his English has deteriorated and to be honest, he wasn't in environments where speaking was even encouraged so it's not the best. My mum on the other hand has flourished doing something she likes. She knows how to tailor and works full time so she's supporting him. What would be the best approach to retrain as something like Locksmith and improve his English so he can have a mobile business? He really wanted to set up his own Latin American Bakery in Melbourne but now this injury has made that pretty difficult now that his body just won't allow him to be a baker anymore. Do you guys have any ideas? Suggestions? What's being a locksmith like and how do you think that can be done? He's pretty good at solving problems, attention to detail and has a really nice manner so I think he'd be good with people. He's also done a basic accounting course but I don't see how he can compete against young graduates. Every time I hear of automation I think of his situation and what could become the reality of too many. Too old to be re-trained in high skill jobs but too young to retire.
TL;DR: Dad got serious injuries that won't allow allow him to work in his trade and his English is not the best. Would retraining as a locksmith work given that he's considered too old for other jobs? Any suggestions will be much appreciated guys.
Submitted July 10, 2017 at 10:20PM by lulalulao http://ift.tt/2u7qkyQ
