Today we (the family) decided it would be an excellent idea to check out the well-known fair. Now everyone goes to the fair but I haven't since I got sick and going today reminded me why. It's because damn it! People are just plain rude to wheelchair occupants. No one moves! You say 'excuse me' and 'I'm sorry' and no one moves an inch. After dealing with this crap for an hour I turned to my current driver, little sister, and told her 'just run 'em over. If they are not going to move then they need to learn to respect the wheelchair in a more personal way.' That and I decided to give my best 'evil eye' and dangerously dirty looks.
So there we were: kind of making it through the crowds until we got stuck behind the slowest ladies possible. They weren't even browsing! Just walking deathly slow. We tried to say 'excuse me' (nothing). 'I'm sorry' (not even a glance). Then attempted to sneak around and they immediately ended up in our path. We could not try to run them out of the way. Finally we were both shouting 'excuse me' to them before their friend emerged. She thought we were some vendor guys trying to sell her a hair curler and that's why we were shouting. Even with her crazy rant...we still could not get through. It was ridiculous and downright insane and I was definitely starting to consider jumping my wheelchair and getting a ride on the hoveround rolling past. If you are electronic, people move. Handled by humans? Not a freaking chance.
The story does have one moment which left me highly amused and very cheery. My father had taken over the pushing of the wheelchair and we were trying to follow my brother through the crowds. We were going at the same pace, waiting for other people to pass, and doing the same as those around us. Unfortunately, some idiot lady decided she could just jump through my moving wheelchair. Well, I'm not a person. We do not have the immediate 'someone ran into me' reflex. In a wheelchair you have the 'o no. you did not just run into me! reaction. There was definite clip of the ankle and one severely nasty look which I returned times ten. My father said sorry but she marched up to her friend and not-so-discreetly started hissing in her ear about it. I really, really, really wanted her to say something along the lines of, "I cannot believe you just ran into me!" Then I could loudly point out, "I'm sorry...I'm in a wheelchair. Hasn't anyone ever told you to respect the disabled by not trying to run them over?" After all, she was the one who tried to shove through without a thought to anyone else. In the words of Antoine Dodson, "You are dumb...you are really, really dumb." Although, you really did make my day at the fair. So thank you crazy wheelchair skipping lady.
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