It's happened to me many times but the one that bugs me the most is when
someone says; "Hey Brad it looks like you're getting a tummy." It
instantly makes me feel insecure about my looks. When it comes down to it, it's
really an insult especially to those with Muscular Dystrophy. When it's the
result of our weakened muscles that make it near impossible for us to keep our
backs straight - especially when standing as it's our unique posture resulting
from Muscular Dystrophy that unfortunately tends to push our stomachs out.
When people say something rude to me especially in this situation I get
defensive as it's just a part of me living with Becker Muscular Dystrophy. I
explain this to them but I am also tempted to start looking at their physical
flaws and then start pointing them out. But I would never do this as I always
try my best to be a kind person. After all, bringing people down is never a
good thing.
Just scrolling through Instagram I often see people with disabilities sharing
the odd things people say to them on a daily basis. Some of them come from
people trying to be funny by saying to wheelchair users; " You better slow
down or you might get a ticket." Completely harmless.
Just the other day I was reading a post where someone said to a wheelchair
user; "What happened to you?" A totally unbelievable thing for anyone
to say. How in the world would a person respond to this? But it does give us an
opportunity to give them a wild explanation just to mess with them!
More people need to think before they speak to people with disabilities and to
apologize if they all of a sudden realize they just put their foot in their
mouth by asking such a stupid question. We should also be able to quickly
forgive them and take advantage of the opportunity provided to us to raise more
awareness and understanding.
In the end I am just trying to enjoy life and when someone says something like;
Hey Brad, it looks like you're getting a belly." It ends up bringing me
down and for the rest of the day at least while around them I start focusing on
keeping my back straight and by the end of the day it gets pretty tiring.
I simply believe that everyone should live by - if you have nothing nice to
say, then don't say anything at all!
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