Life
below armpit level
I just spent 4 days using a mobility cart at GenCon 50. I
never realized that my fellow gamers were so: (take your pick) oblivious, rude,
unthinking, self obsessed, cruel, mean-spirited or just plain f***ing annoying.
After 20 years with Fishing Has No Boundaries, an
organization that provides opportunities for folks of all ages with
disabilities, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of some of the hurdles they
faced in doing “ordinary” things, having helped them overcome them. I was
completely and totally ignorant as to what it feels like to be in a wheelchair
(or in my case, on a mobility scooter). I was invisible (except for a few hours
one afternoon; more on that later).
I will
now speak in generalities; not everyone, by any means, exhibited this behavior.
I cannot count how many times I had to tell someone to “Look
up!” when they had their face in their phone and stepped in front of me (keep
in mind I am in motion). Now if this behavior was being exhibited on the
highway, I would be OK with that as it would weed out that gene from the pool
in short order.
I was frequently battered about the head and shoulders by
backpacks and bags of games. I got a few looks that seemed that the offender
didn’t think I should be in his way.
I had idiots jump in front of me, giggling sometimes, with
lame “Sorry”’s and smirks. No, Jerkwad, if you were really sorry you would not
act like an ass-hat.
I had strings of gamers (gamers all in a group) line up like
ducklings following Mama, and then make a game of how many could dash in front
of me and make me stop. All accompanied with phony smirks and “Sorry”’s. You
weren’t sorry, you brain dead moron; if you were you would have paused and let
me through.
The insincerity really hacked me off.
The insincerity really hacked me off.
Karma can be a bitch, and one vacuous smartass got his ass
bitten for many of the others. Motoring along the sidewalk, where it happens to
be sort of divided by a bunch of planters, this rather large fellow jumped from
his side in front of me on my side, gave me the mealy-mouthed “Sorry” complete
with smirk, just as I rammed his Achilles tendon with the scooter, absolutely, completely
by accident. I could not stop in time. As I loudly proclaimed what a foolish
move it was to jump in front of scooters everyone around looked just as I hit
him and saw him limp away. I hope it got infected.
Brother and Sister gamers, get your act together on this.
Lots of gamers have to spend their lives in chairs or on scooters, and the
general herd treat them like crap, as though they do not exist. I spoke with
quite a few attendees who are in chairs all the time, or on a scooter. Every
single one of them said that what I was observing was what they dealt with
every day. Some of these fellow gamers are considerably more fragile than I.
Look around you and take that into consideration. One of them used the phrase
that became my title; anything below armpit level is often virtually invisible
to too many people.
I was ashamed of the way my fellow gamers were behaving, and
mine is only a temporary condition. I empathize with those living with those
circumstances on a daily basis.
Later:
One afternoon , instead of a gaming-related cap, I wore a VietNam Veterans cap.
People were marginally (but only a little) more considerate and seemed to see
me better. They also offered help, if needed, every time I stopped.
