I plan to write this blog to start off in no particular order. So I will start off with what I think was the rudest incident I encountered. To understand this, you must understand, I spent 2 weeks out in Michigan with the boyfriend and his family.
The last full day i spent in Michigan we decided to go to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. It was me and Jake, his brother and sister-in-law and dad. I was in the push chair and dad had the motorized chair. We all went our separate ways to experience the place. I love faires and festivals and the like, but there were many things that made this day not as fun as we would have liked. Some relating to the chair some not, but since this blog is about the experience of being in a chair, well, that's what you will get.
First off, let's talk about the terrain. Now I know, back in the renaissance, the streets were not paved or anything of the like. But come on, you could have made it a little more wheelchair friendly, and not lost much in ambiance. or at least keep it to one terrain. one minute it was mulch (ok but not great), the next it was rocks (not packed down, so hell). This happened throughout the fair. Add to that people not moving after repeated asking. there was one shop i really wanted to get into and there was a guy standing right on the ramp. His back was to us so i spoke up a little but stayed polite in my asking him to move, nothing. So i tried again a little louder, still nothing. I tried several times, a little louder each time, and it wasn't until JAKE said it that the guy finally got the point.
This type of thing happened off and on throughout the day. I was agitated to say the least. My foot hurt, I was kinda grumpy because of that, the rudeness, the terrain, and the fact that that night I was hopping on a train back home, and i'm not sure the next time i will get to see my boyfriend in person. But i digress. this trip wasn't all bad, Jake bought me a daisy which is just now starting to wilt (not bad for a faire flower if you ask me).
The worst part of the trip happened right at the end. We were on the other side of the faire from the rest of the family when dad's chair stopped working (it couldn't handle the terrain). So we had to get back over there pretty fast as they were getting impatient. It was all uphill. Jake is pushing with all his might and some idiot goes "you know, down hill is much easier.". i'm surprised Jake didn't punch the guy right then and there, i'm surprised I didn't either, but we kept plugging along until we made it to the front gate. we met up with his family and were getting ready to leave the festival.
now you have to understand, in my family anytime we go somewhere new, we get a magnet for the fridge. the fridge at this point is covered in all sorts of places. so i wanted a magnet from the festival. Jake knowing this brings me over to the gift shop. i wanted out of the chair for a few minutes because of this bumpy ride and my frustration with the whole matter (plus i wanted to give Jake a little bit of a break from pushing me). so he starts to wheel me over towards and entrance to the shop. some guy comes over and starts to help Jake push without asking first and then starts to try to steer it towards the ramp which is on the other side, but Jake is persistent, because he knows what i want. then as i try to get up from the chair the guy GRABS MY ARM WITHOUT ASKING. I Screamed. Probably scaring Jake and everyone around me, as he had never heard me scream like that before. I yelled at the guy to get his hands off me and then ran into the shop. I then proceeded to cry. he scared me. rule number one when dealing with someone in a wheelchair, ask before helping them do something.
So that's my rant for today. Have a wonderful day.
