Tuesday night on the Paratransit

Tuesday, June 29, at night going home I met a woman using a wheelchair named Irene. She said something about having to work for five years for nothing and learning about corporations or something and then maybe she could make $20 or $30 an hour after that. She said that all people want to do is pat her on the head. She has a cat that ate through cords, and she has no computer and has to check her stuff on the computer at the library. Her cat makes people bleed because it bites and scratches. Hmm. She says she has four books she is writing, etc. etc. I thought of a song, and will have to reprise it. I said it was wrong the way she is treated and the way we are all treated. We need respect. I was going to tel her about the training concerning the reducing the risk of interpersonal violence concerning disabled persons, (which I attended Tuesday and yesterday) and gave her a business card for my fledgling business. She said she wants to die rich. I liked her spunk. I met a young woman on the AnchorRides bus, who was disabled like the rest of us, she said she was working for five years for free, and that was killing any of her dignity, and she said her cat had cut through her electric cords, and could not repair the computer because it was more than she could afford. She said that she did not want a pat on the head, but wanted to die rich and earn good money instead. Value and respect is what we crave, and understanding of the skills that we have. Koraling Lynne