There must be some positive side to this all. Yes, of course! I believe there is.
Being disabled is not always bad. Here is why.
Number 1: Most obvious. Yes, the parking privilege. It's nice to park close to the door and have enough space to get the wheelchair in and out of the car.
Number 2: Receiving help from the government to get assistance in household tasks and in some cases you may receive financial support because being disabled brings a lot of extra costs.
Number 3: The strength, mentally and physically. You have to work harder than abled people to get somewhere. If it's a job or just a visit to a store. Everything asks more of you and you learn how to deal with that. It's not easy but people notice it and they will respect you for that.
Number 4: People recognize and remember you. Is it a positive thing? Yes, why not? The wheels are something to remember. When you visit places on a regular bases and the people there see you again, and the nice person that you are, they remember you and what you need.
Number 5: In some cases people are extremely nice.
For example, I went to a museum, as I wanted to enter, me and my friend realized the stair were no option. As I was standing in front I called the service number of the museum, I explained I wanted to visit but I couldn't enter. A few minutes later 3 strong man carried me in like a princess, up every stairs, over every threshold. I didn't have to pay and I got a free tour by the manager. That was some topservice! Best museum experience ever.
Number 6: The rooms in the hotel are bigger, and they should because I need to be able to roll around. You don't have suite options or some other nice rooms to choose from. But so far my experience is that the hotel rooms which are adapted are a bit more spacious and that's never a bad thing.
Number 7: 2 for the price of 1. I did not take advantage of this yet. But it's good to know that traveling with an international train can be cheaper if you take a companion with you. In most cases the ticket of your companion costs nothing. It's probably to support people with disabilities to go out more and to support your companion to take you places who can't visit without help. Plus you can't go on a tour bus so the train is in most cases the only option. It's faster anyways.
Number 8: Seat gauranteed.
You already have a chair so you just need some space to stand/park. On busses and trains it's not going to be a problem to be standing for hours.
Number 9: People make space for you. Some will jump, some will wait till you almost roll over their toes but adventually they have to make room.
Number 10: Good view at a concert. So maybe you can't take all your friends, but If you are just the two of you then you will have a nice view when visiting a concert. Or front-row seats in most theatre venues. We don't mind!
Do you have more to be added to this list or maybe you don't agree.
Feel free to comment.
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