Ordinary People

I often hear about how much I do. People see me gardening and say, “I could never do that and you are doing it on a scooter. That's hard work”  Hey, I’m only gardening, something I have been doing for about 65 years. Millions of other people garden in this world, daily and longer than I have.  What I am doing is not special; it’s what people do. Every day. It’s not extraordinary, people. Everybody does it. I am not an inspiration to anyone.

I drive my car. What on earth is special about that? I park my car, unload my scooter from its lift, drive it off the platform and then press a switch to raise the lift back to its regular position. Sometimes it sticks, maybe balks a bit. If that happens, I have a spray bottle of lubricant that I keed in my car that unsticks it in a squirt or two. Passers-by exclaim, “I could never do what you do.” Huh, why not? It certainly does not make me an inspiration to anyone.

By the way, do not EVER park in a handicap spot, no matter what. I don’t care if you will ‘just be a minute’, or ‘It was the only spot open’.  Nothing, no nothing is an excuse to park in my spot.  I only have 2 or 3 spots if I have any. You have parking lots full of spots. Don’t take mine. I will call the cops. I will notify the staff of the store attached to the parking lot. I will leave  you a note on your windshield that will make your hair curl. I will take your license plate number, make, model of your car and report you.  I expect you to extend courtesy to me, but, if you park in my parking spot, you don’t know what the word courtesy means.  Bet your parents taught you what it is. So what happened when you got your driver’s license?  Did you forgot about courtesy? Parking somewhere else is something I can’t do. And you can, so do it.  

I do ordinary things - every day. So do you. Don’t tell me how wonderful I am because I do ordinary things, just like you do.  And I park in handicap parking spots, because I am extraordinary. So there.

Choices and Decisions

Like you, we disabled folks have choices and decisions to make every day. Most people decide they want to go to the movies. They pick one, decide when to go, jump in the car and off they go.  

We do that too, but there are more decisions to make.  First of all, can we get into the cinemall. (I made up that word. Is it a real one.) It’s one of those places where there are 32 movies playing in the same building and you pick one, either you choose before you go or after you get there. 

Secondly, Can we get there? Gotta load up the scooter on the back of the car. Oops, it might rain, gotta cover it up. So find the bungie cords and tie a cover over the scooter. Where are the damn bungie cords? They were right here last time I used them.  

OK, the scooter is on the lift, in the air, covered up and ready to go. We keep Power Blaster spray in the car in case all the lift gears and various arms on the thing don’t work. Power Blaster is like WD-40, but better. 

Off to the movies.  Gotta find a parking spot. That’s not hard because there are plenty of spaces marked handicapped. Most of them are full of non handicapped folks’ cars because most idiots who have no brains and can’t read park there anyway. 

Scooter uncovered, lift worked, so scooter is off the lift and the lift is back up in place. Off to the movies. We hope it’s not raining because the scooter can’t get wet. Something about wiring not getting wet. If it’s raining we turned around before we even got to the cinemall.

Choose a movie. That was easy.

But wait. Most movies don’t have two places to park a scooter driver and a friend. They have but one scooter spot, so if you are with someone, you need to find a scooter parking place with an empty seat next to it.  

Finding a place to sit is a real crapshoot. Often you have to choose a different movie just to find a place to park with an empty seat next to it. Good luck with that.

After the movie, don’t even think about stopping for a bite to eat. Remember there aren’t many place to eat that can accommodate you. 

And you also have to take that scooter down and put it away.

It’s hard work, going to a movie.