(Untitled)

[goatsfoot]

I was driving tigerweave's car to the Wharf this evening, and cos she's got a disabled sticker, rather than having to park miles away, we could go right up to the front and park. We were joking, "oh, can't work, win a free parking space!". Got out of the car and WHAM! there is an old guy staring in my face, to the disabled sticker, then back to me and tigerweave, he

Comments

[nixwilliams]

haha! awesome t-shirt.

and fucking annoying shithead people make me angry. grrrr.

[indigo1]

my mum gets that all the time. she's legally blind, but she can still see a bit and manages her disability really well - so people are disbelieving, and sometimes outright rude when she uses her blind pension ID for concessions. she ended up buying herself a pair of dark glasses so she looked 'blind' on public transport and was seriously contemplating getting a white stick even though she doesn't need one.

[tigerweave]

My ex husband is legally blind and in the same boat as your mum. So is his brother and mother but they need the white sticks or guide dogs all the time.

In the end I wouldn't say "He is blind" but "Vision impaired" as it was amazing how many people presumed "Blind" meant not able to see anything. It did help. But not in general public when a perfectly hale healthy young man of 6ft 2" tripped down a gutter he hadn't seen, or didn't shake an offered hand for the same reason.
I used to just say to people looking in puzzlement "He is vision impaired and I am a hopeless guide dog!" And people would laugh but then most would look away ashamed at themselves for being so judgmental. I do think guide dogs help people be a bit fond of people with vision-impairment. They are more accessible perhaps.

Most people are decent, I have found. It is only the odd one that is offensive. But whether they are decent or not it takes a while to get used to the visibility and therefore being open to judgment that visibility brings.

[indigo1]

my mum lost most of her eyesight when she was in her 30s through detached retinas which they spot-welded back on with what was, back then, experimental laser surgery. she's lost a high enough percentage of her central vision to be legally blind and get a pension, but has learned to get by amazingly well using her peripheral vision, which was left mostly intact. she sort-of scans back and forth across whatever she is looking at and can get the basic shapes and layout of her surrounds. most people can't tell there's anything wrong with her until they've spent time with her and seen the quirky ways she does stuff. her visual impairment really is an 'invisible disability'. she gets a lot of disbelief because she just doesn't come across as very disabled, and people think she's scamming the system with her concession card. the judgement is not about the disability, it's that she isn't disabled enough for them. i think people would be a lot nicer about it if she appeared more obviously disabled.

[tigerweave]

I had a friend with peripheral vision similar to what you describe and she got shit for it fairly often too. Someone *At centrelink* of all places demanded if she was blind where was her dog? She had her 8 yr old daughter with her so said "I don't need one, I have my daughter!" but she was pretty upset. Centrelink ffs!

Yeah I get what you are saying about invisibility. That was pretty much what happened last night I think. This dude was trying to work out why the hell two seemingly sprightly young women had a disabled sticker.

At least he didn't say anything. One guy attacked me verbally a few years ago, so violently I think he was a few screams away from getting physical once. I wasn't disabled enough for him, for sure!
I had my hunting axes in the back of my car. I was tempted, I tell you...*mutters*

When I am with my mum who is a little old lady, people presume the sticker is hers and never even stop to look.

[tigerweave]

Hey speaking of what it takes, I meant to tell you yesterday later when you had recovered a bit, I have a great story. Some dude, male in his early 20s (friend of a friend in Europe) was in a band with four others similar age, and had one lower leg prosthetic. They pulled up, parked in the disabled space and started unpacking instruments.
Some guy came up and started having a go at them for using the disabled space, in spite of the sticker on their car, getting right up and in the guy with the prosthetic's face. "Your not disabled blah blah!" And the guy shut him up taking his leg off (unnoticed by the irate man) and putting it in the other ones arms.
Brilliant mental image huh?

*grins*

[goatsfoot]

that's pretty funny! a great way to say fuck you very much!

[tigerweave]

I know. How gorgeous! If I had had a prosthetic leg (thankfully I don't...) I would have taken it off last night and you could have thumped the guy wit... er I mean waved it in his face *smiles sweetly*

[scarlett_heartt]

That sucks. It doesn't surprise me. But it still sucks.

And yeah, the fat and disabled thing... don't get me started!