Some of you are probably my age and remember Sly & The Family Stone. They had a hit song called, Everyday People - YouTubed it young folk!
The start of the songs goes, "Sometimes I'm right, and I can be wrong. My own beliefs are in my song. The butcher, the banker, the drummer, and then. Makes no difference what group I'm in. I am everyday people."
It then later says, "I am no better and, neither are you. We are the same whatever we do. You love me; you hate me, you know me and then. You can't figure out the bag I'm in. I am everyday people."
It's a lovely little song that fits well with my blog topics today.
People with disabilities are just Everyday People!
Sometimes we are right, sometimes we are wrong!
I am no better, and neither are you!
So why do you (non-disabled) treat us so differently? Why do you view us as less than?
So often, you refer to us as "those people." You prejudge us. You are uncomfortable around us. You pity us. You believe you are here to take care of us. You don't understand us. You abuse us. You isolate us. You fear us. You discriminate and oppress us!
As always, let me share another one of my real-life experiences to make my point. One day after leaving Woody's (yes, it was a while ago), I was in my motorized wheelchair and decided to ride over to Dunk-in Donuts to get some donuts — the donuts were calling me.
As I was riding down the street in my chair on Paxton Street, right across the street, one can see a nursing home (it's called Spring Creek now). Local folks probably know this area of Harrisburg. It's a reasonably busy road, traffic going both ways.
Anyway, I noticed this lady in front of the nursing home looking at me. Suddenly, this lady marched out in the middle of the streets, like a traffic cop, and waved up her hands to stop traffic. She then walked over to me and said, "you can't be out here; you need to come back into the nursing home right now!" I sat still for a brief moment with this confused look on my face until I realized what this ridiculous moment was about, so she yelled it again. I had to calm this lady down and insist that I wasn't a resident of the nursing home – that I wasn't fleeing, but just a regular person, seeking a donut. Finally, she realized what she had done and started apologizing.
Why couldn't I just be another person, another citizen walking down the sidewalk?
The problem is this -- non-disabled people often only see the condition, the wheelchair, the missing limb, the walker, the cane, the hearing aid, etc. Then, we, people with all types of disabilities, become something else.
Why can't we just be people? Everyday People? Didn't the song say, we got to live together?
Go ahead,
click here
. Take a listen to the song. You'll be glad you did!
