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You Like Tomato
Written by Chloe on Saturday, October 25, 2008
Leg braces were usually referred to as "calipers" when I was growing up in England. "Calipers" was the first word I learned to say. Oh alright, I’m just kidding, but I was pretty familiar with them at an early age.
As a young child I spent quite a bit of time with three people who wore leg braces (KAFOs): my aunt (paraplegia), a kid from school (polio), and a neighbourhood kid (spina bifida). I also had American friends from an early age, and I developed an enduring interest in the linguistic differences between English and "American".
At some point in my childhood I heard "diapers" being discussed. I had no clue what that word meant, but I knew they were something that Americans used. I had no idea that it meant "nappies"; there wasn’t enough context in what I’d overheard to deduce the meaning. What I did know was that Americans sometimes used a word that sounded somewhat similar to English. For example I knew that Americans said "tomayto" instead of "tomahto". It seemed to me that the closest sounding word to "diapers" that I knew was "calipers". Ah ha! I had figured it out!
For several years I understood that Americans referred to leg braces as "diapers". From the number of times I heard diapers being referred to, I also figured out that quite a lot of Americans wore leg braces. This gave me comfort. America must be a nice place to live. I knew that I would need leg braces some day. If I moved to America there would be lots of people like me to be my friends.
Eventually I figured out that "diapers" meant "nappies". Eventually I moved to America (by which I mean the U.S.A. My apologies to Chileans). I did in fact make friends with Americans who wear leg braces. I wear leg braces too. There’s a lot less leg braces here than I had been expecting; plenty of diapers though.
Tags: Calipers, Diapers, KAFOs, Leg Braces, Paraplegia, Polio, Spina Bifida
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6 Comments
Haha! That made me smile. But, Ashley, are you saying Americans need to be quieter?
I can hardly blame you… ;)
Exactly Tora, no time like the present for a quieter America. Put that on the ballot this voting season lol.
Yes. I’d vote for it! …You know, like, if I was able to vote… (Lower the voting age! I have opinions too!)
That’s an interesting point - Americans from the U.S. are quite forthcoming about their emotions. They will quickly let you know how they feel and will not worry a lot about what you think about them for it.
But if they are so loud usually, why are there so few posting here? U.S. people make up a huge percentage of the Earth’s English speakers, but almost everyone who posts here seems to come from either Britain or one of its ex-colonies which did not gain its independence through war of rebellion. Why?
I guess there’s the possibility that BIID is, after all, the result of some kind of emotional repression. And if “never shutting up” results in a reduced amount of repression, people from the U.S. would be less likely than others to have undeniable amounts of BIID within themselves.
But it may simply be the case that most other U.S. Americans with BIID handle it like I do. I simply acquired my equipment, fabricated a story (medical records are private in the U.S.) to facilitate my personal needs, and started living and looking like I wanted to. I must say I never got really depressed about my BIID. It never gave me much difficulty at all. When the frustration got to the point of maximum capacity, I just released it logically - by getting myself into leg braces. Most who post here admit to having a very difficult time with BIID, and most of them admit to relishing the support they feel from the kind people here who share their problem. I, on the other hand, come here mainly because of activist feelings; I want to help figure out how to get the medical community to comply with out wishes. I don’t feel any better or worse after coming here; I feel fine anyway.
There are so many different kinds of people here (unless you live here or visit us, the only U.S. people you see are the rich ones who can afford to vacation abroad, and that is not a good cross-section for analysis), an American has to be used to the fact that there is always someone nearby who thinks he or she is totally strange and/or evil. We learn early that there is no way to truly “fit in” with more than a very small percentage of our population. We have to have the “Love Me or Leave Me” attitude; it is taught to us from day one. I think everyone with a serious case of BIID would do well to embrace a “Love Me or Leave Me” attitude of her or his own. It would probably cut down the amount of crying done.
I might not have written this in one of the previous 8 years. Obama is the best President any country could ever hope to have, and the fact that he’s ours makes me, once again, proud to be a U.S. American.
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1 On 25 October, 2008, Ashley said:
No comment really, just lol. You’re right Chloe lots of Americans of all ages wear diapers! Now if only there were a way to position that diaper directly over the mouth…