I'm waking again. In fact, I no longer need the boot, which is awesome. But being on wheels for five weeks gave me some new insight into what life is like for people who aren't that mobile.
I work for an employer who accommodates many people with disabilities, but yet one of the ramps into the building has a manhole in the middle of it. If I'd hit it at full speed, I could have been seriously injured.
The ramp inside the building - the one I need to take from my desk to the bathroom - is scary steep, especially going up (because, I slipped, id be rolling backwards.)
Speaking of the bathroom, the one closest to my desk doesn't have automatic doors or a stall big enough for a scooter, so I had to go down to the other end of the building.
And, during the five weeks I used the scooter, we had two days where the closest elevators were out of service, two days where the elevators i. The transit station were out of service, and one power outage long enough hat they sent us home. (A coworker carried my scooter down the stairs. Luckily I could put some weight on my foot by then.)
Most of the bus drivers were great, and passengers usually cleared a space for me to sit without being asked. But....
- sometimes they'd clear the entire seat and put it up before I got on the bus. That did t help, because I can't sit on the scooter, so I'd have to out it back down
- some people tried to help by grabbing my scooter when I got off the bus. Since I depended on it for balance, that was a problem.
- finally, I had to explain more than once that, while I understand that someone is getting in the bus with a stroller, I won't be standing so that you can put the seat up.
The scooter was way easier than crutches, but it took a lot of energy, and I was glad to see the last of it.
