Originally Posted by
Joe Bikerider
It was a real eye opener for me.
Yeah. In law school I dated a woman in a chair. We had to be mindful of things like going to new bars and restaurants in case there were access/restroom issues. Sometimes we would call ahead to check. People also say/do things that can sound insensitive, though not intentionally. One day we were on an elevator at a mall. And old woman said to the GF :"You're so beautiful, it's a shame you can't walk." She used to drive herself to school using hand controls. One day we went grocery shopping. I was driving. The chair was in the back of her Volvo station wagon. I pulled into a handicapped spot and got out to get the chair out of the back. A woman walking by banged on the hood of the car and yelled at us for parking there. She was most embarrassed when she saw me come around from the back of the car with the chair. One amusing incident happened the day after I got out of the hospital after having my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical one. I had the surgery done in Pittsburgh, where we went to school. The GF drove me to the train station so I could go back to Philly rest before the new school year. When we got to the train an Amtrak employee on the platform assumed she was the one who needed assistance. She told him she was fine and that I was the one who needed help with my bag.