91 km's of old rail trails later, my team came in fifth. I'm excited to know that I added the last 30ish minutes to that total. My first race participation. My first race experience My first dog scaring the crud out of me experience. It's true what they say you know - you do run faster scared. If I could bottle that feeling, recycle it every day.... but then why not?
I'm jumping on my soap box for a minute. (Okay in reality I never actually got of it as this is MY blog) and I feel a rant coming on. Deep breathe. You know my sister used to be my university paper editor and always told me that reading my work required taking deep breathes at the beginning of each sentence. Alas, I am a lover of the run on sentence. I have to be a proud supporter as I feel it is an endangered grammar. It's my cause - I'm just saying.
Anyway back to my rant. I have this sinking feeling that some people may be offended so let me apologise ahead of time. In my recent three and a half weeks back at college, I have determined that our newest adult generation knows nothing of disability. Knows nothing and lives contentedly within that ignorant bliss. I am comfortable walking without my id cane, mostly as the purpose of a cane is to tell others of my blindness - so i figure if the wall wants to jump forward and be bumped into, then so be it. Plus I have this whole issue wondering - where do you put it while using the rest room? You know no matter how I manage it, I have to pick it up and carry it to the sink to wash my hands.... I'd love some feed back on this one as currently I am "that" lady who scrubs her cane after washing her hands in the ladies room. Back on track, ignorant bliss. What is the purpose of an id cane, if not to inform and acknowledge a disability's presence? Here are my following three suggestions the next time you see someone with a white cane;
1. they may be blind, but they are not deaf... and yes I know it's weird that I washed my cane in the sink this morning, stop talking about it - i can hear you!
2. they may be blind, but they are not stupid.... we do not need coddling, don't talk down to us - besides which I am pretty tall!
3. they may be blind, but they already know it.... once your pea sized brain actually wraps itself around the meaning of the white cane - realise we already know, no auditory explanation is required.
Again my apologies....
See this is why my new found obsession, other than breeding the run on sentence, is to bottle that feeling at the end of my race. Here, I've done something, finished something, been part of something and I feel great. People are happy for me, cheering me on, and are altogether unafraid of catching my disability. Wow respect never tasted so good! I am exhausted trying to educate the world about disability, and / or trying to find a place for myself within their scope of reality. It is time - I have decided - to create a new reality. This is my grand scheme....
Now I just need to figure out the appropriate habitates of that run on.... Nobel prize, here i come.
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