Hello!
Something a little different today... Someone else has written this for me! A little back story on this post..
One of my best buddies is getting married very soon, we shall call her Mrs T (to be!) and as the trend goes, she has been getting fit for the big day with a body over hall in the Body Boot Camps that have become very popular lately. At one of Mrs T’s boot camp sessions she seriously hurt her knee (by the way this is in no way the Boot Camps doing – she stubborn and wouldn’t give in!). Anyway she had to carry on whilst she waited for her knee to heal and had to use a mobility scooter around a big supermarket shop and here is the e-mail I received of her experience....
"As we know, life goes on, so off we go to Tesco for essentials. Being the gentleman he is, Mr T endeavours to find a way to make this as painless as possible and arrives with a mobility scooter, Tesco's own with a basket and everything! Now, as a usually able-bodied person- as far as mobility is concerned; My first thought 'Oh, this is bit embarrassing, people will look at me!', my second, 'How vain am I?!', the third and final on this matter, 'Ouch, ouch, ouch bring me the damn seat on wheels!!'. Off we poodle around Tesco, Mr T taking the lead, me; wishing I had 'L' plates. I have to say, it was a far greater experience than the little joy-ride I expected.
I was amazed at the different reactions from people, even in this little scooter available for anyone and all the difficulty manoeuvring the isles. I was greeted by everything from stares from strangers, children pointing and people whispering or even elbowing each other and laughing, to those that made a point of making eye contact or not looking in my direction at all! I can only assume to save embarrassment!
My feelings about this ranged from 'what the hell are you laughing at?!' to 'Hellloooo, I'm down here!'. Seeing the World from half my height, even for half an hour in a supermarket, gave me an entirely new respect for all those wheelchair/scooter-bound!
My ego was squashed and irritated by those that looked right through me, reached over me- even moved me out of the way! It was further bruised by those that laughed and pointed. Little old dears nodding and smiling made me feel 'in the club'- but is this a club I should have joined after hurting my knee and not walking tall like the majority in the store? I think not.
I marvel at the ignorance of most around us. I clearly could not reach items I needed whilst I moved ahead of Kit on my scooter- once I'd got the hang of the steering- yet not a single offer of help came my way. Someone I once worked for refused to even acknowledge that he knew me- now that makes him really shallow or me a very poor employee!
Anyway, my point is I am amazed at the level of self control needed! I wanted to rant at these people or run them over!
Maybe a day in a scooter or wheelchair should be part of the school curriculum? Food for thought!
L x
