Sunny bus selfie. Yesterday as I boarded there were already two strollers in the priority zone (there are two on Vancouver buses accommodating one wheelchair user and one stroller at a time - better than most cities).
The bus driver obviously had to ask them to move because wheelchair users have priority (strollers are supposed to be folded up at this point). Of course the ladies didn’t want to remove their toddlers and fold up their strollers so they made it awkward for everyone but the worst part of it was for me - everyone involved referred to ME as ‘the wheelchair’. I am a damn person.
They all also spoke as if I wasn’t even there (which not surprising given that I’m referred to as an object). And here’s the thing - I know it could have been far far worse - in Britain for example there’s a stand off between wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs (strollers) even though the Supreme Court has actually ruled in wheelchair user’s favor (of course! We don’t have a choice in the space we take up and our need for that space is fundamental to our existence in the community).
So, I know it could have been far worse but it just really sucks being spoken about in this way and never TO. The lady decided she could share my space and didn’t even ask me if I was okay with this. Neither of the mothers looked at me once. You know how that makes me feel? Not just that they like to think I don’t exist but that they’d rather I didn’t exist. That I’m an annoying inconvenience in THEIR day, not the other way around.
I had different problems with using the bus before I used a wheelchair and to be honest they were worse but I just implore everyone to think about how you talk about wheelchair users and just address us! Talk to us like any other human being. We are people and we deserve your decency and humanity.
Honey, I’m hoooome! Got home yesterday actually. Doing pretty good, worst part is finding the perfect position, perfect angle, pillows arranged perfectly…and then never being able to find that sweet spot again after a bathroom break. Plus, my other joints are protesting this much time in bed. But I’m way more alert than I expected to be. And I feel so loved. Not by your outpouring, tho that was nice…but because the cats have been all over me since the second I got home. Hiccup, who never stays more than an hour for a snuggle, slept the whole night through with me, 10 straight hours. Pippin has been right next to me all this morning, everytime I open my eyes he is just staring at me. And Ripley & Kirk, who generally only spend time together if they’re fighting, are currently laying just 6 inches away from each other so that they can both have me. Diggle has frantic happy tail everytime he sees me and remembers that I’m back…sadly we took the ottoman away from the end of the bed so he can’t get up, safer for me that way. He doesn’t understand why he’s been banned from the bed. I have moments of frustration thinking about the slow road ahead of me with recovery. I mean, this sucks. But compared to the left hip surgery a few years ago, my pain & mobility this soon after surgery is hella impressive. Home PT starts on Monday, just to make sure my other joints don’t lock up (worse than they already are) while I’m recovering. And that’s about it from here.
I’ll say it again…if you wanna do something for me, Go Get Vaccinated. I found out 24hrs in that my roommate wasn’t vaccinated. I wore my mask most of the time, but there was one point where I forgot to put it back on after lunch and dosed off for four hours, only to wake to a convo with the nurse trying to talk my roomie into getting her vaccine because no rehab facility was willing to take her otherwise. I was shook up when I heard that. Why in the hell would they put a severely immune compromised person in a room with an unvaccinated person?! Idfk, but I’ll feel better both with my pain level and with my fear that Imma wake up coughing, once I hit that 2 week mark, ya know?
[ID: Illustration of a character with a pale white skin tone, brown eyes and long hair. She’s wearing a yellow sweater and a dark skirt and has deer ears and tail. Around her are items such as a cane surrounded by yellow flowers, an ukulele and painting palette, sunflowers, cake and drawings of dogs,duck and frog. There is a figure of a small character with long brown and white hair as and blue eyes in pink dress.]
ogrefairy.com/shop is now officially live!! Please come on over and check it out if you have any interest in prints (or a couple stickers) with disability and/or fantasy themes.
Now Shipping to USA and Canada
This is my debut as a small business! You can feel free to use the discount code: WELCOME for 10% off your order.
We’ve seen firsthand just how powerful, courageous, and badass differently abled people can be. And it looks like the rest of the internet is finally catching up. An array of Twitter users of different ages, races, and genders are showing up to strut their stuff, share their stories, and prove that their disabilities are just part of what makes them cute and fierce as heck.
