I went to the supermarket 30 minutes before closing and as I parked my car I saw another car come into the carpark and stationed itself in the lot of a disabled spot. And out came a middle-aged lady, seemingly looking fine, without any limp or prosthetic limb, closing the door behind her and walking into the shopping centre.
The car park was crowded, given that people were rushing in to do last minute shopping before closing, so it was glaringly obvious to the people what this seemingly fine and abled woman had done. A man came up to her, telling her off for being such an inconsiderate human for parking in the disabled spot, when it was obvious that she wasn't disabled and had no reason to be using the spot. The woman shrugged him off and continued walking. Then a mother with a baby stopped her and told her off as well, this time with an increased tone of bitter acrimony and a diatribe of telling her how she had no right to be taking advantage of the unfortunate in our society.
Before long, a few more people gathered around her to tell her off for her bad behaviour. She tried to explain that she would have parked in the regular parking spots if the car park wasn't already full. This got them angrier and as tensions raised I could see the woman just being overwhelmed that she was on the verge of crying.
I came up to her and told everyone to quiet down and leave the woman alone. After all, they have clearly made their point, and she probably learnt her lesson. But then one of the women recognised that I was a doctor looking at the name tag on the lanyard around my neck, and as she said, "how can you defend her actions as a doctor?" I paused for a moment, realising something, turned to the woman being lynched by this mob, and asked her:
Me: Do you have a disability?
Woman (nodding hesitantly): Yes
The crowd started to whisper among themselves before someone called out "Liar!"
Me (raising my hand up to the crowd so they'd pause to listen): I know your medical details are confidential and none of anybody's business, including these people. But, could you share with us, what condition you are suffering from?
Woman: I have MS.
The crowd started murmuring amongst themselves, with some seeming to know what it is, while some were just puzzled. I proceeded to say (can't really remember verbatim now, but something like this),
"MS is also known as multiple sclerosis. It is a condition affecting your nerves and cannot be cured. Some patients experience fluctuating conditions. At their best, they look like normal people. When their condition strikes, they can spasm into painful positions, lose their minds, urinate uncontrollably, and even become blind. This woman has MS. And you have seen her on a good day, when she decided to come out today because she feels decent and worthy enough to be with all of you normal people. Do you think she will become more deserving of this car spot when she comes out to the supermarket on a bad day, peeing down her leg, having fits every 5 minutes, and her limbs spasming into horrible positions?"
The crowd went silent, as if almost ashamed. Some nonchalantly walked away as if nothing had happened. I said to the rest that remained:
"You don't always need to have a visual disability in order to deserve to park in the disabled spot. Must the disabled person always be missing one leg? Be on a wheelchair? Be blind? Be someone with Down's Syndrome? If the person looks normal, does that mean that they are not disabled? How can you all be proud that we have progressed as a society, if we still don't understand the concept of not judging a person based on their appearance?"
And I guess you know how the rest of the story went. But even as a doctor, I realised something: epiphanies like these are so much more likely to occur for me in grocery stores and laundromats, rather than in the more traditional places of reverence and prayer. They are moments in which the baseline about what is good and important in my life changes. Often they come just when it feels like life has played another rotten trick on me and nothing in my life is ever going to go as I expect. Through these hardships comes the realization that it is in the most ordinary aspects of my life—the ones in which everything can, and does, go wrong—that I am offered glimpses of the extraordinary, as it is with this woman. And in these flashes of insight, I understand for a moment that one of the great dividends of darkness is an increased sensitivity to light. And in these rare and expansive moments, I am called to delight.
+10 that was a very thought-provoking blog. your way of looking at the whole picture and trying to see what isn't clearly visible is why you are an amazing doctor. i had a very close friend with MS, and i saw firsthand her good and bad days as you described. more people need to realize that things are not always exactly as they appear! <3
Weird how all of your blogs have amazing grammar and punctuation but your posts everywhere else suck at it. It is almost like you copied and pasted this story. It DOES sound familiar. And I was unaware that people are known to flock at people in handicap spaces and develop a mob mentality.
Also, in case you did not know, to buy other color levels go to the "Shop" tab in the top right hand corner, then scroll down and click "The Color Level Shop" (you are almost there, keep going!). Finally click the "Buy" tab that appears next to the color level and there you go! ;D
I am saddened by the immaturity both of you have displayed. Poptart, because you are 16 years old I can let it go. But Mattress, you are 26. Must we talk iN tHiS wAy 2 B a BiT mOrE cOnVinCin'?
Since you guys need to be appeased, I'll tell you what really happened,
Mattress: Thanks to helen, I knew from the start you and dodger were trying to get me out of the game because I was a "threat". You probably think I didn't know about this which is why you go around behaving as if I voted you out unjustly and snipe at all my blog posts. You should be ashamed of yourself really.
Poptart: I don't know where you are getting your info from, but if I betrayed the alliance, of which Sara was a part of, then she wouldn't have added me back as a friend to her friends list. You need to get your facts right before launching accusations against others.
You guys really need to take a break away from this game, because all your comments are reflective of pettiness and sarcasm. Your comments saddens me and shows to everyone that there is a far more horrible side to the human psyche than the drama on Reality TV, and hurling abuse against others without getting your facts right is the very reason why this woman was targeted in the first place.
Imi, I was the one who told Poptart about the alliance thing. I told him when I was really bothered by the whole situation. I did feel betrayed by you, the alliance agreed to vote one way, and you voted another... and because of that the other 2 people of our alliance left. You and I spoke about it... you know I was upset. A few days later I added you as a friend, after I had time to think about it.
Poptart, I know that you're not a part of the Imi fan club (and honestly, maybe I'm not either... talking to you is awesome, Imi, but another alliance won't be in our future). Poptart, I think that first blog you made was necessary, it gave you a chance to get things off of your chest and it gave you two the opportunity to understand how the other felt... however I think making multiple comments and blogs is unnecessary. If you guys don't see yourself becoming friends then too bad, so sad. Move on.. spending your time complaining about the other is unneeded.
This back and forth argument between you two must be tiring, give it a rest. I better not see another bad comment between you two :P
Sara, I have been directed to the hurtful comments that you've written about me on the blogs of others. Despite our misunderstanding in the castings we have played together, which I thought we've cleared up, you have harboured resentment that have translated into acerbic comments. Still, I have kept the secret between you and trolloverlord with me because I honour my word and I didn't want to get you into trouble.
I still don't want to get you into trouble, but I don't think it's fair for these 2 accounts to be in the same castings together next time. Being able to control both accounts is unfair advantage and it is not a nice thing to do with unsuspecting others, even if you really desire to win.
