This update will be piggybacking off the last thought.
I was in a cafe a couple of years ago, sitting down to a nice coffee. A gentleman lost his balance behind me and used the handles of my wheelchair to steady himself. He straightened up, and walked away.
I have absolutely no issue with his thinking, and if he had said even “hello”, I probably would have forgotten all about the event by now.
The problem was that he did not. He did not say anything. He just steadied himself on the nearest solid object, and carried on. It makes me wonder: if the nearest solid object was a person, would he have grabbed their shoulder and given the same response?
What if I had not been stable? What if he jarred my seat forward for what ever reason?
Many excuses for him flooded my head that day. I used them to quell my anger, and to resist the urge to go erupt in anger. It was demeaning, it was arrogant, and it was intrusive.
Again: a “hello” alone would have made everything so much better, and I would not even write this because it would have been a non-issue. While I write this, I feel selfish, cold, and as if I suffer from a series of fist-world-problems. I bring this up because it was so alien to me. I bring this up because it was such an invasion of personal space.
plain text. 