Treat me the same

Sorry about the delay in posting, life took over. If you're still reading, expect a lot of posts in a short amount of time!

I went out with a new friend the other day. And I mentioned that people treat me differently because of my disability. He was shocked (like I said, new friend). I told him it was fascinating to watch how people treated me differently when I was walking, using crutches, or using my chair. Then he offered to push me up the hill because he was worried about me, and I tried not to laugh in his face.

People treat me differently all the time. We went dancing that night (crutches mostly, you'd be surprised how well I can dance on one leg and crutches). Several people spoke to him (even though I was right there) about how cool it was that I was out there dancing. One guy decided to talk to me, and given the amount of drink he was doing I really wished he hadn't. At the end of the night, I could see understanding coming into his eyes. People treat me different. They can't understand that I'm just living my life, and while I might do it differently than they do, I'm not really doing anything special.

I went dancing. In my case, it involved crutches. So what? It doesn't make me better or worse, it just makes me different.

It was a good reminder to me, that with all the physical barriers I fight against, sometimes it's the attitudinal barriers that are hardest to overcome.