I was in a grocery store and, as usual, I was on my electric scooter, dragging a grocery cart behind and doing my grocery shopping all alone.  It’s a feat of independence and what I usually encounter is people positively remarking that I am really accomplished at driving a scooter trailing a shopping cart and getting around all the isles.  I smile and tell them thanks.  Some joke that maybe I should put a horn on the front of my “train”, but I joke and tell them the only horn I’m putting on there is a Mack Truck horn—and we both laugh and go on our way.  But not everyone a disabled person meets is positive; sometimes we come in contact with people who are truly cursed with intolerance.

The other day I was food shopping and opening the frozen food doors and getting items out of the frozen food section, and piling things into my cart.  It does take me longer because I have to sit in my seat grab the items, then turn around and put them in the cart.  But I’m thankful I can do it.  While I was doing this, a man that was about 60 years old that was standing near me began loudly and negatively saying “Jesus Christ” (like a curse word) and was sighing loudly and repeatedly because for him I was taking too long, apparently was in his way and the frozen food I was getting was what he wanted to get.

Truthfully, I felt the anger build up inside of my brain and the warrior part of me wanted to turn my scooter around and get right in his face and yell at him so loud that the glass would break from the loud boom and that boom would be me yelling he was a moron and can’t he see I’m disabled so of course I’m going to take longer getting food into my cart.  And continue yelling that if he is so upset he has to make comments and noises then suck it up and be a man and help me so it goes faster and he can get his food faster. 

But the intelligent part of my brain clicked in and said to me -- don’t you see, this is one of those morons that are intolerant of disabled people.  They don’t care that we are being independent or that we struggle to do things.  Intolerant people don’t care that I’m being independent and making my own path in the world.  They are just narcissistic, people, who want everyone to move out of their way because here they come.  The intelligent part of my brain also said, look around and see other people looking at him acting out.  You don’t have to say a word, because his intolerant poor behavior spoke volumes to everyone around and they heard him and are staring at him as a result.  And I went no faster so Mr. Intolerant just had to stew and wait for me because that’s a part of life.

Afterwards when I thought about it, I remembered that disabled poet Mark O’Brien (July 31, 1949 – July 3, 1999) put it best when he said “I want people to think of disability as a social problem . . . . Everyone becomes disabled unless they die first.”  So the probably in life is that Mr. Intolerant may yet find himself becoming disabled one of these days and he may experience intolerance first hand towards himself by another Mr. Intolerant. 

Love, Suz, Leader of the Permanently Disabled Butterflies