Advantages of being "confined" to a (power) wheelchair

[sqbr]

Articles like ReWalk: A Plea for Common Sense remind me how little ablebodied people understand the sheer joy a good wheelchair can bring. Mostly because the alternative for someone like me is not being able to move, but there are some advantages even over being an able bodied person.

A lot of this would apply to manual wheelchairs too but I've never used one myself.

• Crush the feet of your enemies. Or don't, and feel magnanimous in your mercy.
  
• "Run" with the wind in your hair, or for a bus, without breaking a sweat or getting tired.
  
• Unsettle "more radical than thou" able bodied activists with your very presence.
  
• Be an unsettling centre of attention in general. Works well with goth/macabre/alternative clothing choices.
  
• Never bump your head on low ceilings (admittedly this has never been an issue for me)
  
• Have a comfy chair wherever you go. Fantastic for queues.
  
• Put heavy loads on the back or next to you and not have to carry the weight yourself.
  
• Wear gorgeous but impractical shoes you can't walk in.
  
• Work to fight against stereotypes about disabled people and poor awareness of accessibility simply by going out in public and doing your thing.
  

Any others, fellow wheelies?

Comments

[capri0mni]

Your list is pretty good, but I can think of a few more things to add:

1. You can splash through no rain puddles after a storm without getting your feet wet, and then you can draw designs on the pavement with your wet tires.

2. Spin in circles! 'Nuff said.

3. Going down ramps is fun...

[sqbr]

Those are all very good additions :)

[tree]

it probably says something terrible about me that the one i like most is 'crush the feet of your enemies'. also i would love to be able to wear shoes i can't walk in! which, given the state of my joints + need for orthotics, is 90% of shoes that are made anyway. ballet flats. i'd love to wear ballet flats!

also, you always have a lap available for kitties. (or bunnies or puppies or the furry animal of your choice.)

[sqbr]

Alas my cat refuses to go on my wheelchair unless it's empty, at which point she sits on anything in it passive aggressively. It is the thing I use to LEAVE THE HOUSE AND THUS HER. It is thus EVIL.

[vass]

Not a wheelie, but I have one to add anyway: subvert stereotypes by being that person in the group who's always going too fast so that the others have to call out "can you slow down a bit? I can't keep up."

[sqbr]

I actually try and avoid being that person since I spend all my time NOT in the chair asking people to slow down. But it is a nice change :)

[aris_tgd]

That article is awesome; thanks for linking it!

On a selfish note, I'm still attempting to get all the angles I can on some worldbuilding that involves a culture clash between two civilizations with advanced medical technology: one that believes that everyone naturally wants to look and be "fit" all the time and utilizes surgery for everyone who can afford it, and one that believes in using as much adaptive technology as possible and saving the surgery for when you feel, y'know, sick or pain. Admittedly the hardest thing is not just going "YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING" at the first civ and setting up the second as Most Enlightened And Perfect...

[sqbr]

Hmm.....*ponders* That's an interesting setup. I guess the second society could not be as good at surgery since they do it less often? Maybe people are expected to suck it up even when they don't want to, not mess with "nature"?

[aris_tgd]

*nod* I mean, just in the context of trans characters, where this is coming up, the second society is really cool with people deciding what gender they are, but don't really consider surgery or any kind of HRT necessary--which is nice, but less cool for people with dysphoria.

Paaart of the problem is that the second society is an AU Native American culture, which means that I'm really trying to avoid the over-the-top "Pure and in Harmony with Nature!" thing that white Americans... do. These people are technologically advanced, their tech just doesn't always look like the Europeans because they have different priorities! Man, stereotypes are annoying.

[lilysea]

Heh. ^_^

[fred_mouse]

This reminds me of a kids book that a least youngest loved - Mama zooms, about life as the child of a wheelchair using parent.

[sqbr]

Gosh, that looks lovely.

[jesse_the_k]

In addition to my heavy loads, I can often carry my pals' stuff, as well as more in my lap.

Zooming around on freshly paved roads/paths, brand new big box stores, and frozen lakes is the lower-body equivalent of breezes in my hair.

The comfy place to sit is so vital to me that I have to mention it again.

Cross even the widest streets with confidence.

Wear out the dog on the bike path.

No fear when the sidewalk/pavement is totally iced over — two feet tippy, four wheels solid.

Can run high speed errands.

[sqbr]

Yes I really enjoy not feeling rushed/in danger when I cross roads.

No fear when the sidewalk/pavement is totally iced over — two feet tippy, four wheels solid.

This is not an advantage I'd have thought of :)