So... it's been a while. It's been a while for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is that I started this blog for one specific purpose. That purpose was to spread the word about life as a paraplegic. Telling the story of my accident and some anecdotes of my time in the hospital are a great vehicle with which to convey a lot of the earliest issues I discovered about being a paraplegic. However, this blog is not meant to be a narrative of my injury and recovery. It is not meant to chronicle everything that happened to me in the hospital. Mostly because that would get repetitive very quickly both in substance and with any wisdom that could be gleaned from those experiences.
So while my posts may be few and far between now and then, they will continue when an issue, a story, an event, or problem compels me to share it. Maybe at some point in the future I will tell the story of my injury and recovery, but this is not /specifically/ it.
On to the subject of this post. When a man goes out to run an errand, by himself, it is almost certainly a guarantee that he is doing so because he is confident he can accomplish the errand by himself, without help. If that man happens to be a paraplegic then you can be sure that he is confident, independent and capable of asking for help.
I was just at the grocery store supplementing our stock of fruit and lunch making materials for the coming week. I used one of those hand baskets that can sit on my lap. I love those things. Big grocery karts are cumbersome and difficult for me to maneuver, though I am capable of doing that as well. In my basket I had a watermelon, two packages of lunch meat, a bag of five apples, and (Reasor's has a deal on ice cream right now by the way) two half gallons of Blue Bell ice cream. Mostly because of the watermelon, the basket was heavy (that's important.)
When I reached the check out I unloaded most of the items myself up onto the counter. Without asking the woman at the register walked around the register and lifted the watermelon out and took the basket and put it with others customers had used.
Now, I'd like to take a moment to point out two things. First, I'm aware that her intentions were both a habit and good natured. And second, that I needed the basket to carry my groceries to the car once I'd paid. I know it shouldn't have irritated me but it did; both because if I was able to lift the watermelon into the basket to start with, I could certainly lift it out and because I do know my limitations and I knew that I'd need the basket to get the groceries to the car.
Please do not assume that a person with a disability NEEDS help. A well adjusted, independent para, quad, or anyone with any other kind of disability is acutely aware of their limitations. I appreciate the fact that she thought she was helping, and I would obviously much rather experience this kind of ignorance than someone making derogatory remarks about my injury, but both are offensive. She assumed I was unable, and therefore I felt like I should be unable. I never feel more disabled than when people assume I am.
I am just a man in a wheelchair. All assumptions are off.
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