teehee

It's been a good long while since I've posted an actual AmpuTeeHee here now, hasn't it.
I wonder why that is.

Perhaps the way I present in public somehow cuts down on the amount of idiotic shit people say to me. It's also possible that at this point I've heard it all and it takes a whole-host-of-stupid to catch my attention.

But here's a good one.

If you are new here, it would do you well to understand that my idea of funny usually involves a whole lot of sarcasm and irony, and stupid people are as funny to me as a good night at the comedy club.

This is for real. Happened Monday.
Names not changed to protect the innocent.
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Picture your resident AmpuT here, at an outdoor strip mall, cruising wheelchair style, sans prosthesis.

I'm on on the sidewalk, rolling up pretty quickly on the heels of a mom and her two kids, a girl of about 5 years old, and a boy who's probably 3 or so. They are holding hands, mom in the middle, so they are sucking up pavement triple wide. There is oncoming foot traffic, so there is no way for me to pass them, but I'm in no rush, so I slow down and casually hang a few feet behind them.

The little girl hears my wheels, turns to look me over, then pulls on her mom's hand and whispers very loudly, "Mom! That lady only has one leg!"

The mom, in a bit of a pissy tone, says, "Scarlet. I can't hear you. Speak up."

So Scarlet, in a regular voice, but lips pursed and mumbling says, " Mrmmm, that ladeeee ernly has one lggg!!"

To which mom sternly and loudly replies, "Scarlet! You need to speak clearly if you want to be understood. Now, say it again so I can hear you."

Poor Scarlet. "MOM. THAT....LADY.....ONLY...HAS...ONE...LEG!"

StupidMommy stops dead in her tracks, yanks poor Scarlet's arm, bends down to get in her face and says, "Scarlet! That is rude!"



Jeez, mom. DUH.

There was more, but I didn't bother to stick around to hear the rest of it.
I felt super sorry for the kid, but mom had me cracking up.
I know. I'm a little strange.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the record, there are awkward moments like this (almost daily...no shit) when I am able to say hi, or chat a little bit, and maybe only just give the kid an understanding smile. I do believe that taking that time to do any of those makes a whoooole lotta difference in that child's view the disabled world. I have no proof in most cases, but I know for a fact that time spent at MyFK's school has made an impression for sure. MyFK's classmates don't even look at me sideways anymore, and always rush up with big hugs when they see me.

When I can spend a moment or two with kids, they typically get to see that I'm pretty much the same as anyone else, and they even get to ask the questions the grown ups are dying to ask, but don't ("well, what did they do with your leg after it came off??!"...gotta love it).

Most parents are glad that I make the time to connect. I've even had a few thank me and tell me they were glad I said something, because they hadn't prepared themselves for this particular lesson, and my saying something saved their arse.

But then there's times like last Monday on the sidewalk, where I am very clear that the StupidParent is going to feel even stupider if I intervene, and probably bitch at me for getting all up in their parenting business.

Too bad.