ATLANTA — When CEO Chet Cashmore sees a disabled person, he doesn’t think ill of them, nor is he inspired by them. It’s not his nature to judge people for their disabilities. He simply sees them for what they are: human beings. Generally poor ones, ick. Because if there’s one thing Cashmore can’t stand, it’s a poor person, disabled or not.
Cashmore wants to make it clear that he knows not all disabled people are poor. Some got big insurance settlements or do weird shit on OnlyFans, and he judges each and every disabled person with money on their merits as individuals. But he is quick to add that there’s no denying a large percentage of disabled people are poor, and that turns his stomach.
“This is America. Everyone can work hard and be successful regardless of what disability they have. There’s no excuse for needing government assistance, especially expensive programs like Medicaid. Disabled or not, there’s nothing stopping anyone from having some get-up-and-go and achieving the American dream. I wasn’t born rich. I busted my ass for everything I have, and when that didn’t work, I’d take another family loan and try again until it did.”
Cashmore insists he isn’t calling disabled people lazy; he is simply saying they need to use some good old fashioned American ingenuity to get around the additional hurdles they face. Though he had never heard of spoons before, when we explained the concept, he said, “There’s a business opportunity right there. Someone should start a company selling spoons — problem solved.”
We asked if he employs any disabled people. After a long pause he told us there’s a guy in accounting who seems kind of autistic.