The Pain Caused by Others

The other day, a friend of mine, who also deals with chronic pain, was enjoying an outing with her family at a local farmer's market.  Like me, Tracey (not her real name) walks with a cane.  As she and her family were walking through a crowded area of the market, some idiot woman jerked her child away from Tracey, and loudly exclaimed, "Don't get near her!  Whatever she has is contagious!" This horrible remark was delivered with the requisite dirty look.  Needless to say, my friend was hurt and shocked by the incident.  

I cannot tell you how angry I was upon hearing this!  So now, walking with a cane denotes a contagious illness?  And if a cane caused this woman to yank her child out of Tracey's path, what other people does this woman consider a threat to her child?  I am sure that if this woman had her way about things, all of us with disabilities would be returned to the family attic of a century ago!

I remember in first grade, we had a young boy in my class with cerebral palsy.  Many of the children in the class avoided David.  He walked funny, he drooled, and he could be very difficult to understand.  And I was drawn to him.  David and I would walk around the playground at recess, holding hands.  Once you got to know him, he was the neatest kid!  I told my mother about my new friend, and she told me what a sweet girl I was for being his friend.  And, after awhile, I stopped noticing the things that were wrong with David, and only saw the things that were right with him.

As angry as I am with this ignorant woman, I feel the most sorry for her child.  This little girl is going to grow up hating those who are different from her.  It is attitudes like this which lead to discrimination of those who are different, whether it is race, sexuality, or disability.  And, if history repeats itself - which it often does, this little girl will grow up and pass her hatred on to her children.  It makes me more sad than angry, in the long run.

If I had a magic wand, I would take this little girl, and others like her, to London right now.  Of course, the Olympics are a wondrous spectacle, but that isn't where I would take her.  I would bypass the regular Olympics and go straight to the Para-Olympics.  I would show her that being different does not mean being less than.  I would show her world class athletes, competing to the best of their abilities, and doing things that I wouldn't be able to do in a hundred years.  And I would try to teach her that just because someone looks different from you, it doesn't mean that they aren't exactly the same on the inside.