“Why Am I Disabled? Well…”
The subject of disability is generally a very serious topic. With so many inaccessible places in the world, not to mention discrimination, stereotyping and bad organization procedures, there’s a lot to improve. Being disabled, however, doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. Disability Horizons is testament to that: This U.K.-based magazine is always sharing the stories of people with impairments who are loving life.
But not everyone realizes that people with disabilities have a fun-loving side, just like anyone else. Some people are even surprised if we go outside! Do these people realize we have a sense of humour too? Shocking! It’s sometimes amusing to ‘play’ with these uninformed folks, particularly when asked patronizingly: “Why are you disabled?” So we posed a very unusual question to our Twitter and Facebook people: What funny reasons have you given, or heard someone else say, to explain a disability?
Here are some of their responses.
1. The unfortunate adrenalin junkie: “Well, I was free-falling from a plane toward the sea for a quick swim, and didn’t realize the rocks were so close.”
2. The punished past-life sinner: “I was Jack the Ripper in a past life. Seems karma does strike.”
3. The current life sinner: “I didn’t eat my vegetables as a child.”
4. The over-zealous partygoer: “I’m still hungover from 1999.”
5. Lazy Lothario: “I’m a very lazy person. I also enjoy the sight at this height. Don’t worry, I won’t bite.”
6. Martyr and hero: “I saw an elderly person being robbed, so I beat nine of the 10 gang members,” or “You should have seen the other fella!”
7. God’s stork: “A stork left me on my parent’s doorstep like this.”
8. In response to the most common questioner, a nosy taxi driver: “I was a taxi driver too, and crashed. I was being nosy and forgot to look where I was driving.”
9. The animal lover: “I was on a safari, getting up close to lions, even touching them. But one of them didn’t like me tickling its belly so it went crazy. I don’t hold it against him though.”
10. Surprised and satisfied: “Oh gosh, I hadn’t noticed. Thanks for letting me know. I actually quite like it, though.”
Adapted with permission from Disability Horizons. Read this and other articles on www.disabilityhorizons.com.
