2005-10-31 - 9:40 a.m.
It turns out there are a few benefits to using a wheelchair. My companions and I usually get really choice seats at concerts and ballgames. I get half-fare on the bus (although a few drivers here have made me pay full fare because I didn�t have an official Chicago Transit Authority disabled rider card � I guess I could be faking it�). And wherever I go, I always have a lap to put things on.
Don�t underestimate the value of a lap. Added weight is simply easier to roll along than to lug around. The other day, Nya and I bought her a new computer monitor and keyboard. Instead of having to schlep several heavy bags on the bus home, we simply put everything in a box and placed it on my lap. It�s kind of awkward to roll myself with stuff balanced on my lap, but fortunately Nya pushed me. She said the extra weight only made it maybe 10% more difficult to propel. So convenient.
I�ve carted around all sorts of things on my lap. When we go around the airport, I can usually squeeze on our carry on luggage. We�ve gotten pretty adept at carting home bags of groceries by arranging them in my lap and on the handgrips of my chair. The other day we got quite a few books at the store. Although putting them in a handheld basket would have probably been easier, I enjoyed the challenge of balancing a literary tower in my lap.
(Of course, I can�t always control what�s dropped in my lap to transport. Nya often gives me her purse to carry. Once right after I�d balked at how unmasculine it made me feel, some passing teens commented on what a lovely purse I had. Fine; I�m man enough to be comfortable with a purse.)
I haven�t tried taking a live person with me for a ride in my chair (or a dead one either, come to think of it). I don�t think the frame could support the weight. Also, I�m just not strong enough (yet � I�m working on bulking up) to push us both. So I�ll stick to inanimate objects for now. But if I�d known how helpful it is to carry things this way, I might have started using a chair sooner! Well, probably not, but you know what I mean.
� 2005 Geoff Gladstone
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