Five-Star Disability

What do you think is worse?

1. Minding your own business, while eating a donut waiting for the approaching subway?
2. Being violently jerked backwards from an approaching subway by someone behind you?
3. Or hurling your half-eaten donut at the person who violently pulled you backwards?

If you picked number 2 over the loss of a tasty donut, you are right!  You win… a donut!

Let me tell you, this is not a nice gesture!  And it happened to me!

As I see it, I was waiting for a subway, I had a donut and was enjoying the success of a recent ASL session, I had my white cane out and the subway was arriving.  In my mind’s eye: I was two feet from the train, one foot behind the yellow warning strip, my white cane was probably on, as in the middle of, the warning strip.  The white cane is a nifty too that tells me where the strip is and if I’m too close. As the train was already in the station, rapidly slowing down, the fear of me falling into the track diminished.

Yet, someone behind me was concerned that I was too close.  A man and woman were, unknown to me, were talking to me, and because I didn’t reply to them decided it was best to grab me and hurl me from danger.  What exactly prompted this decision?  Did I appear to be intoxicated or stoned out of my gills while munching a donut?  Did I appear to be unable to see how close I was to the train?  Did I not reply to concerns, and therefore must be unable to make a rational judgement on how close I was to the subway?

Oh gee, seems that someone overreacted, and decided that this donut-eating person with a white cane who did not respond to verbal suggestions was too close to the subway and must be saved!

Therefore, the male hauled me back, spun me around, and left me looking at the wall, donut nearly forgotten in my hand, with some in my mouth.  I don’t even know if it was he who yanked me backwards.  When I looked back at the subway, which was now fully stopped, I did see two people get on, and I assumed that they were my saviours/pushers or which ever, raced after them, accusations flying, swear words a close second. I was furious at the invasion of personal space and being jerked away from the subway that I was very confident to know I was far enough away from.  They had no right to grab me and haul me backwards!  So angry was I, when I yelled at them, with donut spittle flying “DO NOT touch me AGAIN!” before I left the subway car!  The woman did apologize, I saw her lips saying “Sorry”, but it could have been “So really?”…

If there was no train in the station, I might have acted differently, maybe with a thank you.  It is at least a four foot drop from platform to the tracks.

Luckily, the conductor saw the whole confrontation and waited for me to get off the train before he closed the doors.

I sat down and finished my donut, chomping on it furiously instead of hitting someone!  Even when my personal space is invaded, I don’t waste food!

The Morale of this story: Never grab anyone because they appear to be: intoxicated, ignoring you, or of inept judgement.  I am not ignoring you, I am Deaf-Blind, with ataxia!

Remember to share, and like and all that jazz!  Thank you for reading!

Next up: Confessions of a morning person without coffee.