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From: Dara McLaughlin
Date: 04 Sep 2000
Time: 22:03:12
Remote Name: p104-112.atnt1.dialup.abq1.flash.net
I wrote these all from my own experience as a 20 yr wheelchair user (para) and most, if not all, have been the experience of other chair users. It was a cinch to write. Then sevearl weeks later I decided to do a list of 22 MORE stupid things and again, it was a breeze. What do you think about the following? What does it say about society on the basis of individual awareness, education, attitude? Sign me "Curious" ----Dara McLaughlin
ignorance (lack of knowledge) offences intentional
TWENTY-TWO STUPID THINGS TO SAY TO A CRIP by Dara McLaughlin
"Vitamins! Vitamins! That's what you need! The doctors told my grandmother she would never walk again so she started taking lots and lots of vitamins from this particular company and now she walks two miles a day even in winter and square dances every Friday night!"
"My sister's back was so bad that she couldn’t get out of bed for a year and then someone told her about a yoga class that was being given at the book store for free so she took the class and drank herbal teas and y'know...now she's teaching yoga and her back is better than it has been in her whole life and she even works at the book store so now she guides others whose bodies are out of rhythm with natural states of being and y’know I know she would love it if you called her to talk about your problem so she could help you. You never know, y'know?"
"What you need to remember is that this is your gift. Jesus Christ is your savior and he loves you enough to give you this gift so that you can help others. Afflictions are our gifts and we must be thankful for them. We have a prayer group that you should come to on Wednesday nights. We’ll thank the Lord for his gift to you and the souls you are about to touch. Thank you, father"
mother in a store to her rambunctious child as she points to me: “If you don’t start behaving yourself, you’ll end up like that.”
“Can you, you know, do it?”
"All this is the result of something you did in one of your past lives and you're living the consequences in order to become a higher being. It's a karma thing. Maybe you were in a duel and shot the other guy and paralyzed him or...maybe you could've been a world-famous dancer but you were an alcoholic and wasted your potential by drinking yourself to death. Could be anything. I know this woman who does past-life regression. You should go see her. Aren't you dying to know what you did to cause this?"
"My uncle uses a wheelchair and we drag him all over the place."
"I know just how you feel, honey. I broke my leg in two places a couple years ago. Had to use a wheelchair for six months...imagine! I couldn't go nowheres. I couldn't do nothing but sit there for the whole six months. So I know…I know how hard it is to bear the cross--God bless you. I know first-hand."
“Wouldn’t it be easier to walk?”
“Hey--watch out--you’re gonna get a speeding ticket!”
"There's this monk in the Himalayan Mountains who does nothing but teach individuals who seek him out about their higher selves until they are no longer attached to their physical being and therefore the conditions of the body become insignificant. This should be of interest to you."
“You should get a horn on that thing!”
“Don’t drink and drive! Get it? Drink---drive?!”
"I know this one doctor who works absolute miracles. He worked on that one singer, you know, the one who broke his spine or something and came back one hundred percent. I forget his name. So this doctor is the one who got him back on stage. I don't know how exactly but I'll try to get his name for you."
"You're lucky you get to sit down...my feet are killing me."
"We were making significant progress with research in the area of spinal cord injury and related maladies such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease until Reagan and Bush terminated all fetal cell transplant experiments. Now the Danes are way ahead. Maybe the Germans, too. I’d be pissed if I were you."
"If I was you and they told me I couldn't play no more basketball...I'd off it, man."
“Tell the truth, no shit, you’re one easy rape.”
"Mommy, why is that lady in a wheelchair?" "She's tired, honey."
"I feel so sorry for you. I know how hard it is to get around in a wheelchair. When I take the baby out in the stroller and have to look for those ramp-things, I think...what a pain."
"We had to do this one experiment in school where we had to pick a handicap and pretend to have it for two days. I picked getting confined to a wheelchair and went to the mall and the library and ate at Raimondo's. I guess we do need more access. But all in all it was kind’a fun."
“What do you think this condition brings you that you can't get in any other way? Why do you think your subconscious mind chose paraplegia to express what you need from life? How does needing to be in a wheelchair help you? Does it help you avoid adult responsibilities? Does it fulfill your need for attention?"
"You're lucky you're alive. Some people are dead.”