Whenever I run into people (not literally) in my power chair, I'm inevitably asked "Do you know what the price of gas is?"
I nod and say yes.
"But do you realize how expensive it is?" they ask me. And then they get into their car to drive home three blocks.
I often pass them at the traffic light and wave as I hum by.
I'll admit that I'm going green because I can't fit my power chair into my car. But the reality is that, in the same way I can use my chair to get to stores around the corner, other people can walk or bike. I've learned I don't need a car for many things I used to use a car for.
But it's fascinating to watch how people react to walking. Recently a friend and I walked up to a coffee shop. When we got home, she said "That was really far. I don't think I'll ever do that again!" It was only six blocks.
It doesn't do any good to discuss this with her because, inevitably, she says to me "You're sitting down. You don't know how far it is."
I haven't forgotten how far far is by foot, however. I know I've defined it differently over the course of my life. Far seems to get closer as one ages. The further you are from far, the more likely you're fit. However you can redefine far by walking and making far closer again.
Just because I use a power chair doesn't mean I don't know that. It's like babying along old batteries in a piece of mobility equipment. Far is further with old batteries than new ones.
It's still better than the price of gas.
3 comments:
Thank you for that post. It spoke to me in ways I'm to speechless to express. Bless you
I sometimes wonder if it isn't the distance or physical effort of walking, but the time it takes--which would apply to wheeling too.
I walk to places that are 30, 45 minutes from my house, and back, most days--the weather's usually fine where I live, and there are good sidewalks and it's always daylight in safe neighborhoods--still, the time involved is enough to make a lot of people say "ugh, I couldn't do that."
BUT, it seems like those are the folks who *need* to spend some slow time with themselves, y'know? By ditching the car when possible, I know my neighborhood (and neighbors) better, I'm more likely to patronize local businesses, I get to listen to nice long podcasts along the way, I appreciate which shoes are really built well, and think twice about loading my bag with heavy junk--so it's a good discipline for a lot of reasons. And it saves on gas, yeah, that too!
Penny,
You make a great point, one that I think about but haven't really put into words because it can sound -petulant maybe? Because I know so many people would love to have my power chair and I'm lucky to have that mode of transportation.
But I know that during the week on work days I don't have the time to go out and take that extra time - the longer time to "walk". The weekends - usually okay.
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