My friend Becca has an odd leg condition where she can't walk that fast, so she borrowed a wheelchair I had so we could go to the mall. Seeing people in a wheelchair isn't that unusual, so I didn't really expect many weird looks, but I was extremely wrong.
Everyone would look at us, and then look away really quickly, thinking we wouldn't notice. We got so many looks, just because she was in a wheelchair. I think it was because of how young she is; you don't really expect a 17 year old to be in a wheelchair. But I don't think that's really worthy of all the looks people gave us. What's so wrong with being in a wheelchair? I have no idea.
Even one guy took a picture of us when we were eating our pretzels. How odd is that? When we walked down the hallways, people would always quickly get out of our way, like we needed the whole aisle or something. I just found it really odd because there were plenty of older people in wheelchairs, but I didn't notice anyone giving them strange looks or quickly getting out of their way.
And then when I was in the checkout line, and she was waiting off to the side, these two boys were behind her, pointing and making confused faces, like she was a monkey out of a zoo. What's so different and odd about a girl in a wheelchair in a mall?
This is really sad, but unfortunately I'm not surprised. I think our culture is just not exposed enough to handicapped people, so when we see them, we think its unusual. We should have more exposure to people of all kinds. It would be better for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis post actually kind of made me mad. I can't get over how rude people can be and not even think twice about it. It shows that people really have no respect for anyone else, especially people who are "different." Poor Becca doesn't deserve to be stared at, or anyone for that matter.
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