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
Ha! I'm famous! :) You missed out an important bit though- the end... 'Anyway, my point is I am amazed at your self control- I wanted to rant at these people and share my opinions- but you my dear, have never lost your cool in all the time in my company. You always maintain a dignity that I whole-heartedly respect despite the frustrations that may surround you on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI hope that by sharing this you realise my intentions are honourable and in no way do I intend to be patronising. You buddy, are one helluva girl!! xxx '
Love, Mrs T-to-be xx
Wanted to keep the last bit for myself :) x
ReplyDeleteMy view of the world for those in wheelchairs was also brought sharply into focus after having to go shopping in a scooter after I broke my ankle. I was hit with baskets and people got angry and irritated with me as I tried to get the hang of manoeuvering this strange (to me) mobile chair!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it should be a made a day trip for young people so that we can all view the world from a different perspective and gain some insight and respect for the people who have no choice but to put up with the small minded, irritatingly rushed individuals that call themselves 'able-bodied'.
I use a walking stick and I am very bent. Some days it is ok and I seem to meet helpful sorts, other days I have found myself leaving before I use my stick - on a knee cap, you know just to clear the passage so I can move........I must admit that when I want something from a high shelf, there is nothing better than stopping the person trying to sneak past looking at the floor, by asking, in a loud, "excuse me could you help me please", they have to stop and help. Sadly I do enjoy that, you see the trapped look in their eyes, they have to acknowledge you....
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad fact that those of you that do not physically conform to the norm through no choice of your own will always be ridiculed, pointed at, shunned, ignored, bullied, abused and etc etc. Sadly, I bet very few of us 'normal' people read blogs such as this... And why? Because most just do not care about your problems. On occasions when 'normal' people do go out of their way.to assist or support you - blog that. They are the people that read these type of blogs through empathy of your issues... They like a small thank you once in a while so give it publicly.
ReplyDeletePs. I'm bored with being anonymous with my posts. Stick me out there loud and proud Ms E... Crack on!
I have a sort of a similar experience which also made me think a bit about our society. Last year I hurt my leg and for about two months I couldn't walk properly. When I was alone it was the worst because I walked really slowly without any support. The most difficult thing was the fact that I was in a new city and I had almost no people to help me. However, one thing I noticed was the fact that people are extremely rude and simply don't care about others. I'm not saying that they should have been emphatic or anything but they literally pushed me on the street to walk faster or on the stairs. I was constantly trying not to be in their way, so don't think that I was blocking a crowd of people with my slow walking. I was in some corner somewhere trying not to upset somebody. Another annoying thing was, as you guys said, THE STARING. I mean seriously, it wasn't like I was green and had two heads, I just couldn't walk. I believe that it takes a truly boring life lacking any events to be able to stare like that at somebody. I was really trying hard not to poke someone's eyes and tell them, didn't your mama tell you that it's not nice to stare?
ReplyDeleteAnd even those who were not staring were annoying, I was literally feeling them trying NOT to stare. Why would you be trying hard NOT to stare, it's not like I'm the walking HBO television or something. What I hated the most were the teenagers and children....and their laughs. I don't remember being like that when I was young, what happened to this new generation? Sorry, got a bit carried away...
Oh and we also have an elevator for people with disabilities in the building where I take my classes (it's only two story high so the rest can take the stairs). There was no chance to take that elevator because the people who really need it never got the chance to use it. I remember waiting for 15 minutes with a girl who had a broken leg for the elevator because every time the doors opened people with absolutely no problems ran to it and jumped in.
I never realized how much people suck until I went through that experience.
Sorry for the long comment. Anyway, I wanted to tell you again how much I love your blog :D