Of Anchors and Chips

After reading my  last blog entry "discounted" a friend of mine said

"It's really good you have such a good sense of humor about things. I'm sure I would lose patience VERY quickly."
I've always had a good sense of humor about they way some people act around "the disabled" if I  didn't I'd  end up going thru life with a huge chip on my shoulder, I've done that and said chip becomes an anchor really quickly. I'm not saying that I don't have my days, I do and I do get frustrated in the way society can overlook people who don't fit into what is considered the "norm." When I find myself being overlooked or even pitied by individuals and the frustration level rising I take a second, pause collect myself and laugh. Why do I laugh when people approach my like I'm made of glass and have the brains of a  nematode? It's simple really..They have no idea who I am or what I've done with my life, and by treating me as they do, they prove that I'm the one who should feel sorry for them. After-all can they say that they have built a business that supports a habit that gives them a chance to compete on a national stage as well as an international one? How many of the individuals that speak to the people that I am with rather then me  when I'm at a restaurant assume that I know nothing about food or customer service. Some days I just want to put on a t-shirt that says "I'm the one who calculates your TIP!"
My point with all of this is I don't get pissed off when I get discounted by others, I know its a reflection of their  own insecurities and fears, I just smile and laugh. I don't need anchors holding me back in my life.

Discounted

The other day I was at the pet store picking up food for my dogs, and decided to take a look at the selection of fish that the store had to offer. As I navigated through the tanks full of guppies,goldfish and tetras, I found myself  looking at a cool eel looking fish labeled as a Knife fish. As soon as I saw it I wanted to know more, Its called a knife fish after all. I asked the friendly aquarium specialist for the rundown on the knife fish, the first thing she said was that it was half off because it was a "special needs" fish. Knife fish are blind and according to the  aquarium specialist food needs to be placed right in-front of the animals nose. Well It is called a knife fish and since it was discounted by the store because no one would take it due to its disability, I had to have it. The fish is by no means disabled, yes its blind, but it cruises around the tank with ease. As soon as the food hits the tank the little monster is right on it. After experiencing the fish for a few days I couldn't help but laugh. I wonder how many times I've been "discounted" because I roll around instead of walk.

  I've seen it many times, at restaurants my girlfriend gets asked how many for dinner even when I roll in the door first, she gets asked what I want for dinner. If I didn't keep a sense of humor about it I'd go blind with rage. I was at a craft show when I first started my cookie adventure, someone came up to my table and saw the cookie boxes arrayed on the table and asked my table mate who made the cookies, when she pointed to me the lady who posed the question laughed and said "yeah right he couldn't have done that he's in a wheelchair" I think on that incident while looking at what I've done with cookies and I have to laugh.

  This past weekend I took part in another hobby of mine, that of learning rifle marksmanship, while I was engaged in the instruction my girlfriend was approached by one of the attendees and told that "it was good to see me out" to steal a line from one of my favorite movies where am I supposed to be in a closet?

People who use crutches, canes or even wheelchairs are not broken, people with any disability are people, people who have hopes and dreams just like everyone else, true we may have to improvise and adapt how we do things, but we are not to be discounted.

With a little help

I had a great practice on Saturday, my coach and team captain have seen major developments in my fencing recently, So much so that they would like me to get as much experience as I can, to that end they would like me to participate in the Crescent City Open in  New Orleans at the end of the month. Things are going great with fencing and its awesome  that I have this opportunity, I had been planning for Kansas City in December now my timeline for is shorter, so I've got to amp up my training regime and my cookie sales  I've got a little over two weeks to sell 30 dozen..Its a heck of a goal but I can do this, with a little help from my friends.Let's make it happen!