Life is hard & I yelled at an old man in a wheelchair

Originally posted on Myspace Sunday, June 29, 2008:

I totally wigged out on this guy yesterday and it's been bothering me ever since. He was in a wheelchair and I thought I was having some kind of guilt for that, which isn't normal for me. I worked with "Handicapable" people for almost 4 years and I look at them the same as everyone else. They can be as good of a friend or as big of an asshole as anyone else.

The actual situation is irrelevant, but just to let me rant . . We took the kids to see WALL-E yesterday. It was really packed in the theater. The kids were all very well behaved (unlike some little shit behind us) and seemed to enjoy the movie. Jack drank about 25 of my 32 ounce soda and took full advantage of the pull up he was wearing (gross). I don't usually let him drink soda, but it was keeping him quiet - so I acquiesced. As usual we were the last ones out of the theater - you know we have to pay our respect to the people who made the movie and when that comes to a Pixar movie that's no small commitment. MWD took Noah and I took Jack and Emily. We hit the ladies room and I realized there was no "diaper changing station". So I went out in the hallway and noticed we were going to need to use the "family/handicapped" bathroom which is apparently the only place to change a diaper without laying your kid on the bathroom floor or trying to get him to step out and into a clean pull up. I could write a whole blog on my last movie theater/pull up changing experience from last time. This time I was using a designated area.

While in the process of relieving Jack of his 25 ounces, someone tried the door. Not too weird. The immediate silence led me to believe the person had moved on. A moment later there is a loud bang on the door, three actually. My reaction was just to say "occupied" loud enough for them to hear. Immediately I heard this nasty creature shout "well, I'm in a wheelchair, so get the HELL out of there." I put hell in all caps because he YELLED it. My first thought was guilt. Then all the sudden I realized that I hadn't done anything wrong. I was changing my kid in the designated area and the guy was cussing at me in front of my kids. "I'm changing a diaper, this is the only place, I will be right out" that was my only response. I put Jack back together & washed our hands as quick as I could. The whole time I can hear this guy mumbling about people using the handicapped bathroom and he is in a wheelchair and it is bullshit and on and on. At this point I was furious.

I flung the door open to this small man with a giant beard and no legs. He was kind of dirty and had this almost stereotypical look of a war veteran, military cap and all. He also had a giant thug in a poorly chosen red shirt standing behind his wheelchair looking like a bouncer for Red Robin. I looked the nasty little man directly in the eye and yelled at him. OK. I didn't yell, but I raised my voice and told him this was the only place for me to change a diaper and that I thought his cussing at me (in front of my children or not) was unnecessary and rude. His only response was even louder "well I'm in a wheelchair, so I have to use that damn bathroom." I was getting nowhere (except more pissed) so I stormed off and waited for Michael.

The whole thing only took place in a couple of minutes, but I was so angry. I couldn't figure out if I just felt sorry for him (for being such a hateful nasty person, not being in a wheelchair) or angry at him for taking his frustrations out on me. Then I came to a place where realized that I should be thankful for what I have: my health, my family, my LEGS. But, by the time I went to bed I decided "f**k that." The guy was just a jerk.

The moral of the story?
Life is hard for everyone. It's what you make of it. There are days when my life is easy and days when it is hard. All of those days are a result of choices I have made. When something bad happens to you regardless of the scale, you get to choose how you handle it. I know people who have (or had) major health issues and are the most positive people in the world (Bunny & Chad for example). They didn't choose to have the problems, but they did decide how they were going to handle it. So again - f**k that. The guy was just a prick.

Currently listening: Nothing’s Shocking By Jane’s Addiction