Write about the labors in life. Did you have an experience at a job that is too funny, maddening, or sad not to share? Do you remember the first time you held your child?
This sort of feeds into a rant for me so...
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Physically Challenged
People liken my disability to climbing Mount Everest when they call me Physically Challenged. Of course, they're wrong. Outside of pain, exhaustion, and the extra work it takes to do mundane life maintenance--every day life often being a pain in the butt thousands of feet above sea level-- the similarity ends. You choose to climb the mountain and choose when the journey ends; I don't have the choice. You have done something extraordinary when you reach the top; I can't call doing something I could have done if the cards would have been dealt differently... awe-inspiring.
Differently Abled irks me more severely than Physically Challenged. Just because I can't walk doesn't mean I can lift a car or fly at super speeds. You are implying my inability to walk around has given me some kind of superhero divinity, as if by taking one thing away I have been given something better (or just as good). Sorry, no dice people.
Though, I'm not disabled either. Something that is disabled doesn't function. I am not a robot someone shut down in the middle of its job, left to rust. I still live, though maybe not going through the same processes in the same way as everyone else. I don't object to being called disabled, however. I suppose I just shrug off extra sugar-coating. It just is what it is.
-Jennifer
I'm always afraid that I'll upset a disabled person. Some are very, very independent. Sometimes, I'm afraid one of them will yell at me, not knowing that I don't hesitate to hold a door for anyone, even if it's a person that doesn't say thank you.
ReplyDeletePeople in general, now days, are mannered very differently.
Generally, if they're around people long enough, they will ask if need be. Sometimes, when people do something for me I can do, I just tell them "thank you but I have it" and leave it at that. I'm also not afraid to ask when I DO need help, though.
ReplyDeleteIt is a difficult because I know some disabled people who WON'T ask for help because they're embarrassed that they have to rely on a stranger. Just do what you think is right and forget them if they get ticked off. I am never upset if someone's heart is in the right place.