Look ma, no paper! : The Advantages of Being a Quad

[Photo description: A single white piece of paper on a black background.}

Paper is overrated.

I know, because, as a quadriplegic, I hardly ever touch pieces of paper in my daily life. I have everything on computers due to the paralysis in my lower arms. I read books on computers. I do forms on computers. I keep notes on computers with programs like Sticky Note. All of this gives me an advantage.

Unlike poor able bodied folks, I don't have to worry about a cluttered desk. I don't have all of those endless lists on pieces of paper that blow around when someone slams a door or opens a window. I don't have to fish around looking for THAT piece of paper that I wrote a number down on. Not me.

Everything I have down as notes is right on my computer, available at a click. I can choose, at no extra cost, what color sticky note to write something on. I even have a system, unlike when I used to use mere paper for notekeeping. Yellow is for personal notes. Blue is for business notes. Pink is for - well , you get the idea.

Most paper, on the other hand, is white. I know it comes in other colors, but most of it is white. Unless you buy those cubes of paper that are precut note sized. They're a bit of overkill in the cute department I think. They look like they should be used by 14 year olds passing notes in class. Although today kids probably are just IM'ing and text messaging each other.

And you know why? Because kids know that paper is overrated. Just like papyrus used to be hot, someday we'll look back and laugh at people who used paper.

An able bodied friend from church just called. Guess what? She lost a piece of paper! (And I bet it was white too). Do you know why? Because instead of having lists on a laptop (easily done) we're still doing everything on pieces of paper. Everything from registering for events and signup sheets to handouts and who bought an afghan from the Christmas craft show is still on paper. The problem is if you lose an original only copy of any of these papers, no one knows the information.

I can fix that. Put it on a laptop. Type it on a cyber sticky note. These things no longer happen to me because I am paper free.

I feel sorry for able bodied people sometimes.