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Wheeling and human relationships
Written by jim on Saturday, April 7, 2007
It seems as Claire’s adventures out-and-about in her wheelchair are different than mine. If I were to write them all down, the obstacles would get little "press." First of all, however, I’m single again and I can spend every Sunday as a paraplegic, all day long. Second, I’ve been pretending for years and am very good at getting around in my wheelchair. I’ve tackled many an obstacle but they aren’t a big deal to me anymore.
What I’m after is relationships. I want to get acquainted with people and have them only know me as a guy in a wheelchair. I make my "rounds," my usual stores, my favorite clerks etc. I like that I get to know them a lot more than I want to make a big deal about obstacles and the funny looks etc.
Since I’ve been back in Illinois I’m friendly with a checker at a Super Walmart and a clerk at a gas station/convenience store. We’re now "regulars" I guess. But I keep exploring too.
In Atlanta, I made a lot of regular friends from my wheelchair. Too many to list, but, I will tell about one.
I decided I needed to exercise from my wheelchair. I had this perfect, one floor mall I’d go to with a one mile loop. It opened at 6 for walkers. I did it twice a week and as I built up my "pushing power" I decided to push up three ramps in the parking garage next to the theatres. No one parked in there untill they opened.
The second time I did it I saw the yellow flashing lights of the security SUV behind me, but the guard just drove by. When I got to the top level the guard was parked right next to the elevator I would have to use to get down. As I approached, the window came down and it was a nice young lady, in uniform, of course. She told me to be careful and watch out for crazy drivers. She complimented me on my workout.
The ramps became a more frequent destination for me and she and I would stop and visit all the time. I’d talk about my problems being confined to a wheelchair, my kids etc. and she’d talk about how she hated her job and I could tell she wasn’t happy in her marriage either but she never came right out and said it. But, I was still married, and so was she, so nothing ever got romantic. We were both just friendly people. We’d get each other a Coke sometimes and chat for 5 or 10 minutes, thats all. Never exchanged phone numbers or anything. And I seemed to be much more friendly from a wheelchair.
She had a degree in criminology and this was the first job she could find when she moved to Atlanta with her construction working Hispanic husband.
One Sunday, I saw the perfect job for her in the want ads and I took it to her. It was as a claim rep with an insurance company: good investigational skills, knowledge of laws and insurance policies, college degree required, bilingual(which she was) a plus. She was so grateful.
I missed her my next couple of trips to the mall, but, then when I bumped in to her again, she had an interview coming. Then, she got the job and then she quit. She and I met at the food court for lunch (she bought as thanks) and I’ve never seen or heard from her again.
It was just so much fun to have a friendly relationship with someone from my wheelchair and reinforces my desire to be in one all the time.
If she only knew my double life.
Thanks for reading this far.
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