Pam Halter
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Parents Blog

The Cloaking Device
Friday, October 12, 2012 by pam

Anna must have a cloaking device which renders her invisible to everyone around her. At least intermittingly, anyway. We were at the mall last night to get her a new pair of glasses. It's always interesting to take Anna into the public. We use a companion wheel chair for her safety and comfort when we go shopping. It always amazes me that people either totally ignore us or stare at us like we're circus freaks. We really aren't the only people pushing someone in a wheel chair. Of course, Anna likes to sit with her legs pulled up, and sometimes she'll stick her feet straight up in the air, so I guess I would look, too. But we work to keep her from doing that.

What gets me is when we're walking along and people – adults and teens, it doesn’t matter the age – are walking toward us, totally spread out, and we are forced to either move to the side or wait while they walk by us. It's like we're not there. It's the same when we take Anna to the park in her stroller. Inevitably, a group of women walking together will take up the whole path and will not move to allow us to pass. I either wait or push the stroller into the grass.

Then there's the young woman at the mall kiosk. We're walking by and she comes up to us, offering hand lotion. I say, "No, thank you." Does this deter her? Nope. She says, "Well, can I ask you a question?" I smile and answer, "Sure, if you can walk with us. My daughter doesn't understand stopping for any length of time."

That put her off, but I had to shake my head.

I'm not asking for special treatment. Common courtesy would be real nice, though.


Comments

pam From At 8/5/2013 10:55:12 AM

hi Laura - I'm soooo glad I could help you. Please keep coming back to my blog and please let me know if I can help you in any other way.

Laura Kirk From Bremen, Georgia At 8/5/2013 9:24:19 AM

I just want to commend you for starting this blog. I first heard about you through another author's blog. It mentioned your book ""Shut up, it's not a blessing"". I can not tell you what those few simple words did to me. It was as if a flood gate opened and 22 years of pent up frustration poured.

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