Amazing poem/message from the one and only Lauren Chan. Definitely worth a read. “When I see you in your wheelchair” written by Lauren Chan When I see you in your wheelchair, I can’t help but stare. You are too young to be confined among the wheels of that chair. It leaves me to wonder how long you’ve been here, unable to walk on this pretty pier. Maybe you were just a child when such tragedy occurred. Or maybe your disease came without the slightest hint of unease. Then I begin to think of the many diagnoses that leave your body both pale and frail. Spinal cord injury? Transverse myelitis? Spina bifida? Head injury? A haemorrhage? Polio perhaps? Stroke? I still can’t decide, but whatever the disability, it’s clear it has left you without much mobility. As I continue to look around the pier, I notice others just like me... both staring and glaring. What surprises me the most, are the finger pointing and rude remarks that would leave any with a feeling of great exclude. It takes everything within me not to stare too long. Although there’s no snigger or ridicule from me, am I any better than the others who do? And then it hits me, this situation we’re in, on this day like any other day. All of us “able bodied” individuals, looking, staring, scrutinizing. Maybe even a little pity, acting like a judging committee. We’ve grown up in a society that values little variety. When we see people like you, we’ve been wired to believe your character and capabilities consist of only what we can see. But who am I, to say you are confined within your wheelchair? But who am I, to label your disability a tragedy? We live in a society that values little variety. But the truth is, this objectifying and stigmatizing will do us no good. It is the time for us to arrange a system of change. One where once in a while, when I see you in your wheelchair, I can’t help but smile.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 03:35:19 +0000
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