Awkward Encounter #1

Property of fatwallet.com

Hello, again! Last week, I gave you guys five tips  for how to talk to a wheelchair user. I promised I'd share some experiences that inspired those tips, and I intend to deliver! However, to keep you wanting more, I’m going to do it in two installments; one story apiece!

Our first story takes place on a summer's day. But first, some background.

 I have scoliosis. This is a disorder where your spine curves more than it should. This can be really bad, especially, when your spine curves so much that it begins putting more pressure on your lungs than it should.

So, the summer before 8th grade, I went under the knife to have titanium rods placed on my spine. 

I’ll save you from all of the details of my recovery, let’s just say that, after two months of tireless recuperation, my spine and I were ready to get back out into the world. Which is why I didn’t say no to going to Kohl’s with my mom and sister.

I should add one detail about my recovery: to keep the rods in place while they were fusing into my spine, I had to wear a TLSO brace. When I would go out, I would wear it underneath my clothes. Nevertheless, it may  have played a part in the events to follow. 

Property of indiamart.com So as I was saying, on what I presume was an August afternoon, I went to Kohl's with my mom and older sister.

At some point, my sister left us to go try on some clothes. Rather than sit and wait for her, my mom and I carried on through aisles and aisles of clothes, shoes, and more clothes. As you can imagine, I was bored out of my mind.

 Eventually, I started to space out. As I was in the midst of what I'm sure was a great daydream, two elderly ladies approached us.

“Hello”, they said. My mom said returned the greeting.

“We’re sorry to bother you but, we were just wondering, can we pray for your son?” one of the ladies said.

"Ummm.... Sure", my mom responded. At the time, my mom thought that they would go to their church on Sunday and ask the priest to lead their congregation in a group prayer for me. So, asking if they could do that wasn't out of the question.

That didn't happen, though. Instead these women bent down, placed their hands on my head, and began praying. Right there, in the middle of the aisle.

We didn’t know what to do. As I said in my last post, I’m no stranger to people asking me personal questions or to tell me I’m an inspiration. But, this was weirder than anything I’d ever experienced.

Seeing as we didn’t know what to do, we stayed put. The seconds ticked by. 

I became more mortified by the second. I was hoping and praying (ironic, right?), that they wouldn't draw a crowd, among the narrow aisles. My mom was probably trying not to wet her pants at the ridiculousness and awkwardness of the situation. 

At one point, I saw my sister from a few feet away carrying clothes in both hands. We made eye contact but the minute she realized what was happening she darted for the other end of the store.

Property of businessinsider.com

I decided since I couldn't do anything about it, I was going to just let it be. This reaction was probably more a result of my initial disbelief that any two people would be this forward.

 I was in shock and paralyzed.... no pun intended. I was longing for it to be over and trying to draw my attention to other things: the ceiling panels, the walls, the aisles of clothes, anything.

Amidst my effort to space out, they got quiet. They had stopped praying and I was relieved! I even let out a sigh. They both stood up, one of the woman declaring, "Oh! I feel dizzy!" which, made it sound as if Jesus himself had conducted the prayer and was leaving her body. 

I let out a quiet chuckle at this comment, which dispelled some of my embarrassment. They said goodbye, my mom offered a reluctant thank-you, and they left.

My sister stepped from the shadows, and with no hesitation, we ran as fast as we could to the checkout line. 

"What was that about?,"my sister asked. At this, my mom burst out laughing.

On the way home, we recounted the story for her. We didn’t even have to exaggerate to make it funnier. 

At home, later when my dad came home from work, we recounted the story for him. Like before, we couldn't stop laughing as we did.

That's all for this week. If you like what you've read, comment down below the craziest experience with a stranger you've ever had! Talk to you next week.