Read: HANDI-CRAPPED Based upon a true story-
Plenty of us get up in the morning and put one leg on at a time. We pull ourselves into wheelchairs or fight to dress with prosthetic hands or arms. It's a struggle but we get it done just like you would if you had to. We don't ask for special treatment because really, we just want to be considered normal.
I may have had part of my leg amputated but other than a few emotional scars, I still have my life experiences, I still have a sarcastic sense of humor, and I do have some people that love me. We've all got problems, one of mine may just be a little more obvious to your eye.
See, my friends and I are in our sixties now, and had you known me when I was 20, you'd have bet dollars to donuts that I wouldn't have made it to 30. Quite crazy as a youth, it took a lot of mistakes and at lot of scars to have become the man standing in front of you. We all gather scars and problems along the way if you're lucky enough to reach my age. The baggage may seem to get a little heavy at times but if you learn how to carry it right, it's manageable.
Now I'm not sure who coined the term Handi-Capable, but it wasn't me. This phrase does, however, bring a smile to my face every time I hear it. The book HANDI-"CRAPPED"; refers more to the medical system that we find ourselves in upon entering a hospital and having very little say about our own treatment unless we really advocate for ourselves. HANDI-"CAPABLE" is the condition I find myself in now that I have adapted to my new-normal.
With my prosthetic leg, I certainly look fairly normal (no jokes from my friends) with pants on and walk with only a slight limp. I try to avoid stairs and escalators are a bit scary but for the most part I feel normal. I know that everyone I've worked with would say, "He gets along pretty good, he's an amputee you know". Even now when I'm filling out forms or applications it is hard to check the box that says, "Disabled", because most of the time I don't feel that way.
I don't pretend to know how others handle the "handle" of being disabled because there are so many types of disabilities and even more ways to deal with them. There are mental, sight, hearing, limb loss and many other disabilities. How you judge disabilities or rank them is completely up to you, how treat people with them is critical (to us). We fight every single day to be viewed as normal because our employers, our pay and our self-respect depends on it.
Imagine if people with anxiety issues had a sign above their head that said ANXIETY. That may sound strange but exactly how would you treat them, would you treat them different? Would you hire them, would you sit next to them on a bus? There are no physical reminders or outward appearance of many disabilities, but they are still there. I'm sure there are plenty of mental disabilities that people would trade places with me for, if they could get rid of theirs.
So, I guess what I'm asking for is to be treated as a normal person. I didn't lose my sense of humor; I laugh at a lot of things you do. My mind is clear (again, no jokes from my friends) and I will appreciate you treating me normal more than you will ever know. I remember what it felt like to seem normal to you, but I still had issues with my own vulnerabilities within my own mind. Am I too loud, large, scary etc., those didn't go away, I was just able to put them in a shelf further back in the pantry lol.
Sincerely,
Insensitive Bastard
Insensitive Bastard
Be Well
