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I once had an injury in both of my legs after a long hike. It caused my legs to be so swollen that I had very limited mobility, but I could still walk - though
by sva_ 4y ago
I once had an injury in both of my legs after a long hike. It caused my legs to be so swollen that I had very limited mobility, but I could still walk - though it probably looked very awkward.
In school, children get taught that when someone looks disabled, you shouldn't look at them, because staring at them is some kind of discrimination or so. I couldn't disagree more.
When I had that injury, and was kind of crip-walking, people would intuitively stare at me for a second, then -very obviously- force themselves to look away.
The injury wasn't that bad and went away after a week or two. But the way people forced themselves to look away, was much worse. I can't imagine dealing with that every day.
I'd argue that the people who make up these kind of "rules" probably aren't themselves affected by it.
- bombcar 4y agoI kind of feel the euphemism treadmill is the language version of “looking away”. Blind is stark; powerful; forces me to contemplate the lack of vision - I can’t escape it. But if I start using “visually challenged” then it’s softer, sounds like a game, challenges can be overcome, this isn’t something I need to worry about.
- GartzenDeHaes 4y agoGeorge Carlin has a great bit on euphemisms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isMm2vF4uFs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isMm2vF4uFs
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- notamy 4y ago> When I had that injury, and was kind of crip-walking, people would intuitively stare at me for a second, then -very obviously- force themselves to look away. > The injury wasn't that bad and went away after a week or two. But the way people forced themselves to look away, was much worse. I can't imagine dealing with that every day. Having experienced this, I personally find that what's worse is the way people look at me in the first place. It's not as simple as someone looking at me, I can _see_ on their face or in their eyes or ... what's going through their mind, before they reassert control and hide it again.