Schooled again in the gym

[vicar]

Minor note

Comments

[dukexmachismo]

It's inspiring to see people who won't let circumstances stop them. Pretty much takes away everybody elses excuses.

[androgenie]

Totally not condescending to notice him....getting inspired by him because of his disability is where it gets crappy (check out Stella Young's TED Talk called "I'm not here for your inspiration"...she was a disabled comedian & is poignant). It sounds like he's a kick ass strong guy :-)

[apple2peanut]

My two cents. You noticed his strength and capability at least one full visit before you became aware of his disability. You have a different frame of reference to see (no pun intended) him, but as long as that doesn't dominate your perspective whenever you think and recognize him, its fine. You are also not trying to ignore the disability awkwardly as some might do. It is just one of those momentary, "thunk" moments when you're candid with yourself - and us - and that spontaneous moment and thought, "hey, blind dudes can do some serious lifting too!" makes you feel guilty since it should be so-called commonsense, but it is a bit eye-opening in that instant.

As someone else said, glad you didn't turn it into a 'hey, he INSPIRES me,' moment and trying to force some sort of shallow empowerment token gesture. Just a, "hey, cool, that dude that can lift a decent amount, dude's blind!"

Oh, just wait till you notice that guy who grunts so much at the gym sometimes is deaf or HoH... (don't ask how i know, LOL).

[vicar]

I forgot - I ran into another hearing impaired guy who grunts a lot and I thought he was a jerk until I realized he had an impairment.

[apple2peanut]

Glad I'm not the only one who made the same initial misjudgement!

Frankly, I think sometimes we are all a little leery of unfamiliar people in places like a gym and prone to being more suspicious at least initially. Or that could just be me, I'm naturally paranoid or suspicious, LOL.