"The Good" Deeds of the Able-Bodied

Welcome Back, everyone! Well, that's enough of an introduction. Let's get to it.

I was scrolling through Facebook a few days ago and came across something interesting. Facebook, as we all know, has become a dumping ground for the sharing of memes and viral videos. I usually scroll past such things but occasionally I'll find something that catches my interest.

Recently, I saw that one of my Facebook "friends" had liked a video of a little boy helping his friend score a goal. Note: the boy's friend is disabled while he is not.

The video starts out with both boys on the ice. The friend, of the child who I believe has Down Syndrome, slaps a puck over to him. The boy catches it on his hockey stick and tries to shoot. He misses. His friend then retrieves the puck and gives it back to him so he can try again. Again, he misses.

I'll save us some time: The special needs child misses every time. However, each time, his friend retrieves the puck so he can try again.

By the end of the video, the special needs child is inches from the net. Finally, the goalie, "subtly" jumps out of the way, although he could've easily swatted the puck away. The puck goes into the net.

Scrolling through the comments, I saw people wrote things like:

 "Faith in humanity restored." or "What great kids for doing that for their "special friend". Every once in a while, I'll see a video of an able-bodied student asking a special needs student to prom. It will be a big to-do and of course, the special needs child will be overjoyed.  

Now, every time I see one of these videos, it used to make me feel good. However, as I started looking at the comments on these videos the more annoyed I became. These comments all have one thing in common. They continually praise the able-bodied friends.....for doing what friends do.

Now, I have said this before and will say this again before my time on this blog is finished:

DISABLED PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE!

Of course, we appreciate the things our friends do for us especially, when they have to change plans because we're around. Any time anyone has ever accommodated me I have said thank you.

However, I have never felt bad for.... "causing trouble".

I don't feel like my able-bodied friends are doing me a favor by hanging out with me. If one of them invited me to a dance, I wouldn't idolize them for being so thoughtful (of course, this probably has more to do with the fact that I HATE dances).

On a similar note, when I go out to a restaurant, I don't feel gracious if there's a ramp or an elevator going into the place.

Why you ask? It's because I deserve the same experiences as anyone else. I'm not going to feel indebted to someone who's just letting me live my life.

Other people fail to realize that special needs kids do have lives, just like they do, and that's the reason that we praise others for doing good deeds. Because we consider those who are different from us and that appear "disadvantaged" to be in need of our help (on our terms, I should add). Having a hard time believing me?

Let's say that one day, in high school, you were in the lunch room with your friends. You noticed that a few tables down from you there was a student sitting by himself or herself. This student could've been disabled or not. It doesn't matter.

 Now, what did you do? Chances are that you invited them to sit with you. They may have even sat at your table everyday for the whole year.

If they became your friend, great! Good for you! However, I'm going to assume that, at least for the majority of people reading this, that didn't happen. Sure, you saw them everyday at lunch for the whole year but you didn't talk to them outside of that one period.

Why didn't you? The answer is likely: because they were different. It's not like you were embarrassed to be seen out with them. It's just that you didn't consider they did the kind of stuff that you do because they were different from you. It's not your fault.

Our society embraces diversity, but it's weird, we also keep it at an arm's length. Too much diversity  makes us uncomfortable because we can't grasp other people's cultures.

But stop to consider this: if we tried to get to know more people who weren't like us, if we saw a glimpse into their lives, how different would they really be?

 You've probably heard that line before. We say we promote diversity but personally, I don't think we do. At least not nearly as well as we should be. Our world isn't perfect and the people even less so.

But, we are all people and we all deserve to be recognized that way. We're all just rollin' through this life. Why not take this journey together?


That's all for now! See ya next time!