Todays prompt is to share 30 things about myself because there are 30 days in November! Instead of I will give you my Top 11 paraplegic moments because November is the 11th Month. Strangely, I don’t have many “Funny” stories but here are a few :
- MY soon to be husband carried me down the aisle – I know, it’s not traditional but if you read my wedding story you will understand why.
- I had a tire blowout in target. Really. There was a LOUD BOOM. It sounded like a gunshot or an explosion. You know what makes the story even better?! Green goo shot everywhere. Yes, we had used tire goop because we put off ordering tires yet again and that shot everywhere. We switched to solid inserts after that.
- I was trapped in a restaurant bathroom and couldn’t get off the toilet. My chair kept sliding. Surely you’ve read that story?
- I can’t tell you the number of individual lost shoes I have floating around parking lots and gas stations. I can see the look on peoples’ faces now. I finally figured out the trick to making sure we don’t lose show anymore. I starting buying EXPENSIVE shoes. When the cost to replace WENT UP, my husband started being more careful about checking to make sure a shoes didn’t fly under the car when I transferred in.
- My water broke – TWICE – and I didn’t know it. I was sitting in wet goo and had no clue. I also realized that I never wrote Nathan’s birth story. I was going to link to it and it doesn’t exist. Ooops.
- There was the time I fell out of my chair and my Mom had to drag me to the living room on a blanket. I was probably about 5 months post and my chair slide when I Was transferring out of the shower and to the floor I went. I scooted onto a blanket and my mom dragged me into the living room. I transferred to a foot stool and into a recliner and then back into my chair. I still don’t know how to get into my chair from the floor without half-way help like a stool.
- My husband left my wheelchair in front of a model home. We didn’t realize until we got home. My purse was on it too. Nice.
- The was a lady in a nursing home that asked me for a stamp. She then told me she would pay me back later and asked what my room number was. I was there visiting my husband’s grandmother.
- We were visiting the facility in #8 on a different occasion and I was waiting for Charlie to pull the car around. It was dark and rainy. A nurse came up to me and demand to know where my handles were and why I was not in my room. I jerked away from her and she was terribly embarrassed for her mistake.
- While watching Nathan at gymnastics I struck up a conversation with another mom. We chatted for the better part of the hour. The next week I show up and wheel right up next to her again. She furrows her brows, points to the chair and asks what happened. Not thinking much of the question after talking to her so much last the week, I told her I was in a car wreck about 15 years ago. She is still confused. She never noticed the chair the previous week and thought it was new.
- I saved my favorite for last. I was going to college at Coastal Bend in Beeville and was getting fitted for a scooter to make the treks across campus a bit easier. When the guy came in he looked at me with a very puzzled look on his face and asked who had fit me for my 18×18 chair. He was furious when I told him. He asked if I knew why on Earth they put me in such a large chair. I told him that the guy measuring me said that EVERYONE IN A WHEELCHAIR gets fat so he never fits you for what you need because you will grow out of it anyways. He said that was horrible and hopefully the other guy was later fired. The size chair I really needed? 14×16. HUGE difference.
This is a great post! My favorite share is the lost shoes! At least you get some pretty fab shoes out of the deal to keep hubby from not retrieving them when they fall off.
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You’ve had some great ones! I laughed, because almost all have happened to me (well, no kids, so no water breaking!). My trapped in a bathroom one happened in Mexico when the ONLY key there was set up in a window ledge way higher than I could reach – and the door locked behind me! Lots of frantic Spanish being hollered outside, screeching tires as they went to find the owner and get an extra set. I thought i would melt in the heat before anybody found me…. Yikes!
My chair fell into 30 feet of water at Lake Travis when we were sailboating and some kids on the dock were …. apparently NOT playing with it (according to them). Had to get a scuba diver and grappling hook…..found most of it! I was missing a footrest and an armrest, but had enough to go to work the next day. One of my patients the next day noticed my chair and said a funny thing had happened the day before. She worked in the Jonestown Marina and some frantic people came looking for a scuba diver to find a lost wheelchair…… Story got even funnier.
Trying to make a transfer in the rain to a friend’s car on our lunch hour, I started laughing for some reason, turned into a noodle and slipped to the parking lot. She was VERY pregnant, so went in to get help. She comes out with the mariachi band from the Mexican restaurant! Still makes me laugh to think of sitting in the rain, in the parking lot being “rescued” by them – big hats and all!
Recently while visiting my mother-in-law (assisted living), I was chased out to the car by someone who thought I was “escaping” the memory care ward! I frequently get asked if I need help finding my room or getting me a tray. Guess I could score some meals if I so desired….!
And – don’t judge – but when going to La Bare, my girlfriends and I found a mountain of steps we weren’t expecting. While watching for police and anybody else who might be miffed, Mr. Fig Leaf and Mr. Cowboy hat (pretty much what they had on) came down and helped us up the steps. The best I remember, it was a fun night!
Tons more, but your post made me think of a few of my favorites. Gotta laugh, right? Makes the little challenges go by a lot easier 🙂
It’s because of #7 that I ask people all the time if my chair is in the car, especially if I don’t put it in myself. When people call me neurotic I tell them about the time you left your chair in front of a house.
Sarah´s last blog post ..November Blogathon: Go-To Recipe
I had some interesting experiences when we went to Italy and Singapore (see also my Disabled Toilets blog). Another experience – I was giving a presentation to a local U3A group and a lady at the back asked “can you stand up please”. I said “no I can’t”. She was mortified to then discover I was using a wheelchair and apologised profusely during the break. I reassured her that it was fine.
Suzanne Mulligan´s last blog post ..Friday 26 July 2013 – leaving Brisbane
great post gives courage to others
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