Dear Audacity,
How rude can people be? I am tired of people thinking they have the right to ask about my private life as if I were an open textbook.
Recently, I went to the grocery store and while in line the woman in front of me asked me if I could feed myself.
My wife was shocked. I answered the woman to satisfy her curiosity. It wasn’t enough. She wanted to know whether I could go to the bathroom by myself.
I could feel my wife edging closer and I didn’t want to see a messy cat fight in aisle one so I told her that it was not an appropriate question for her to ask me or anyone else.
She looked right over me and directly at my wife. She told my wife she was sorry about my situation and walked out.
How can a man with a disability find dignity in public when society harbors pity and disdain for us?
Frustrated and Disgusted with Mankind
Anonymous
*****
An email from a friend of Audacity!
Hi,
As a fellow writer and editor, I enjoy reading your material — in fact, with your permission, I reprinted one of your previous editorials on http://www.abilitymaine.org and think that your material is thought provoking and worthwhile.
I did find, however, this phrase in your article about apartment hunting — “As a wheelchair bound person,” — and think it is not the kind of language many folks in wheelchairs apreciate.
To me, “wheelchair bound” connotes chains, imposible dreams, and a much less hopeful idea than “college bound”. And, are you really “bound” to that chair or do you use the chair for mobility?
Just my thoughts …
posting from Emma’s Family Farm
Windsor Maine;
Steve Hoad
What are your thoughts?
Email us at nathasha@audacitymagazine.com .