UNM student Tim Garcia works full time at UNM’s Parking and Transportation Services department and says that people with disabilities can find a job and do it well.
The 28-year-old Garcia, a parking officer for parking services who is deaf, said he doesn’t let his disability get in the way of doing his best.
Clovis Acosta, director of Parking and Transportation Services, said that Garcia has never received a complaint and has one of the highest efficiency ratings among parking officers.
In the field, Garcia occasionally encounters irate individuals. Students late for class who choose to park illegally are usually the angriest, he said.
When people see Garcia writing them a ticket, some ignore him, and others beg to park for free or yell in his face. Garcia said he tells them he is deaf and cannot understand them. He hands them a card that says he is deaf and offers a phone number for parking services.
But more importantly, he said, he tries to tell them that he is just doing his job.
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When people try to talk to Garcia he offers to write to them with the pencil and paper that he carries in his pocket. When people don’t have the patience to write, he said he resorts to body language or gestures and often will point at a street sign.
Garcia said it makes his job easier when he can point at a street sign and it reduces anger in many situations.
Garcia said he has not chosen a major yet, though he is considering becoming a teacher for deaf children. He might become a teacher, that is, if he doesn’t play professional racquetball.
Garcia has been playing racquetball for eight years — two of those years semi-professionally. Garcia said rumor has it he’s the top-ranked racquetball player in the world for the deaf. A membership at Tom Young’s Gym to lift weights and swim gave him the chance to watch others play. The chance to play soon followed.
Although Garcia admits his job is not easy and requires patience, he said he never gets tired of working for parking services. His biggest challenge is going to work sore from playing racquetball. He said he can hit the ball 100 miles per hour.
Garcia said he plans to get an apartment soon, stay in school, and see where racquetball takes him.
