Back when I was in
college, there was this one
student who was confined to a
wheelchair.
Brown hair,
baby face, reddish
complexion. Had a
non-motorized wheelchair, so he had to
wheel himself all over
campus.
I don't recall having any
significant dealings with him, but he seemed like a
nice enough
person,
most of the time. He'd never let anyone
push him, and sometimes he'd get
angry if you held a
door open for him.
Anyway, sometimes you'd see him wheeling himself across campus carrying a
boom box in his lap. The
stereo was playing some
generic action movie soundtrack. He was pushing the
chair just as
hard and as
fast as it would go, and you could tell, by the
look in his
eyes, that he was imagining himself as the
hero of a
TV movie that would never get filmed. Overcoming all
obstacles despite his
handicap, earning the
respect of everyone he knew, getting the
girl.
Nothing wrong with the
fantasy -- most of us
indulge in that kind of
daydreaming -- but playing it out in
public...?