Five-Star Disability

Hey everyone!

Yesterday or the day before, I had a Facebook memory pop up on my feed: Well, I can’t find the exact post, but it goes something like this:

I learned two things today: that a walker does nothing for me when a pothole is encountered!  And screaming insulting words at the pothole will not make matters better, but it will scare away those who come to help!

Explanation:

About four years ago, one blustery cold, but not snowy, evening, I offered to go to the local Loblaws to pick up somethings, I know it was a Sunday afternoon, and four years ago is 2016, we were living in south Scarborough, off Kingston Road.  I can guess that I offered to go, to get out of the house, as cabin-fever was running high, especially in late winter!

I caught the bus to Loblaws, which is 6 or 7 stops from my house.  This was the easy part, getting there and shopping.  I got the stuff we needed, enough to fit snuggly into my walker basket.  After bundling up, means gloves, toque, zippered jacket, its Scarborough, probably -15… I walk to the bus stop and arrive there to consult the next bus app on my phone.  Says the next bus is in 30 minutes.  Which is typical for a Sunday; transit slow down to the max!

Instead of waiting 30 minutes in the frozen wastelands of a rural parking lot and a barely there bus shelter, I decide to walk home.  I could be inside my house before the bus even arrived!

I walked south, and then took a short cut, through side streets, to return to Kingston Road, shaving 10 minutes off walk if I had walked south on Victoria Park to Kingston.

As I am walking I am probably thinking about this and that, having random conversations with myself.  I definitely recall seeing a black blob on the sidewalk approaching, which I thought was, well, a black blob!

As I continue walking, I guess I zoned back to some hot discussion I was having with myself because the next thing I realized I am flying through space; my walker goes wheels-up, I crack my knee onto the cold hard pavement, my gloved hands are used, reflexively as brakes, and I skid to a stop!

I unleash some choice expletives, naturally!

I haul my walker upright, and snarl at the black blob which turned out to be a gapping crater in the sidewalk, probably due to freezing/thawing expanding of concrete that happens everywhere in Ontario, especially Sudbury!

I believe some people were rushing to help me, but because of my explosive response, they quickly decided against helping!

I checked my purchases, nothing broken, not even the eggs that I did not buy!

I walked home, told the wife, posted on Facebook, forgot the whole thing, had a game of Scrabble and went to bed, after fixing my bloody knee.

What happened?  Well, my vision is not great, and I saw a black blob ON the sidewalk, but it turned out to be a black blob IN the sidewalk!  That is Vision Loss for you!

Okay, I am overdue to leave for the day, but I need to update a few things: I’ll have a Donation Link or something in future posts, and I will be updating the blog itself!  Better accessibility and reading ease!

Thanks for your time!