Beware of the Cripples!!!!!

THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!

I was going to post this about a month ago. It's applicable now more than ever. It seems as if I'm running into crips everywhere I go. I seemed to notice first on March 7th. I was at a pool for a friend's bachelorette party and saw TWO crips there. One was a girl w/down's and the other was a teen/young man with what I presume was CP with a decent cognitive impact to go along. He was there with his parents who were helping him in the water. His chair was by the side of the pool. Why anyone would put a custom monogrammed seating system in such a crappy manual chair is beyond me.

[image description: a cartoony stick figureish guy sitting in a manual chair in the grass w/some flowers and the sun on the top right w/eyes & a smile. the guy also has big eyes and a big smile & is waving his stick hand]

I've seen crips at the mall. A few weeks ago I had to make a purchase and saw two people signing to each other. That made me smile. I may have seen other crips that day. I don't remember. It's not like this is the first time I've ever seen other crips at the mall. I've seen crips in manual or powerchairs and scooters all the time at the mall. Once I saw a very small child using a walker. I think I knew him from when I used to volunteer at a local pediatric rehab hospital. I was too shy to go up and see. Tuesday I went to the mall to exchange what I bought a few weeks ago and AGAIN saw two people signing. Two different people, as they were black and the first two people were white. I also saw a man with CP walking through the food court and someone in a scooter coming out of a store.

I cut through a bookstore to get to/from the mall to avoid crossing lanes at a busy traffic circle. I know it's the law to stop for pedestrians, but it doesn't mean one day someone won't be fooling with the radio. I've seen crips in there before too, but there seems to be more in there lately. I saw one when I was in there after the mall, which was funny after all the crip sightings. I think it was the guy I ran into a few weeks ago in the cafe. He had wheeled from his apartment up the street and bought a newspaper to sit and read and I had picked up a copy of Voluntary Madness to read. It was funny how we approached there about the same time and both studied each other's chair intently. It started up a conversation wherein I felt a deep bond with this man I had never met before and who doesn't have a story anything like mine. It's the chair that bonds.

I see crips when I ride the bus of course. There's a guy (freshman I think) who lives in the building across from me who is an achondroplasic dwarf. For all I know I run into people with LDs, ADD and/or psyc issues all the time. It's easy to pass that way.Last week I saw crips at an art opening, but I went with crips and DUH it was Dan Keplinger's.

Lastly, as I already posted, I went to a wedding last weekend and was happy to see M there with her family. M is an autistic middle schooler who my friend used to PA for when she was in grad school. Her parents usually leave her home for things like this and use respite care funds. It was nice to see her there even if she could only tolerate the environment in little bits at a time (I'm guessing it was too loud and overstimulating).

I wonder why I'm seeing all these crips out now? Why I haven't noticed so many crips out and about before? I'm guessing it's because I'm getting involved with CDRC and ADAPT and am watching things like art opening and he's a crip. I was glad to finally see someone (not Dan) with the wheelchair color I think I want. The colors online look nothing like the swatches the distributer has, which look nothing like they do when the chair is made. I was nervous about getting it. Now I saw it.Hows Your News? and Table for 12 on TV. They bring things into consciousness. Or maybe we're contagious, spreading rapidly and wreaking havoc on society? (sorry if that joke offends, I think it's funny) Whatever the reason, I'm glad to notice. It makes me happy.