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

[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.