Transcript of Thought For the World's thought for the day

Gordon Ross

22st February 2008

As a disabled person who has serious difficulty walking more than a few yards, I have become defensive of the small number of special car parking spaces allocated to us in the public streets or private carparks.
So you can imagine, the ire generated among us disabled folk, when these few spaces are taken by able-bodied parkers, because they are too busy just rushing to the cashline or just slipping into the shop for a couple of things!

I used to suffer from disabled parking rage, and be ready to man the barricades, bash in the windscreens of the ofenders, accost them in the street, or photograph their "crime" and post it on a "name and shame" website. Now like a good cheddar I've matured, and feel more sad and disappointed that there is so much selfishness in the world.

Why do so many people disregard the needs of their fellow men, and women, who endure the indignity of disablement. For the one thing I've learnt since becoming disabled is that your dignity goes out the window with your able-bodiedness. You may well need help with so many private and personal functions, like bathing, dressing and toileting, so any shred of normal dignity is whisked away.

You have to find other ways to re-establish your dignity. You use what abilities you have left, to rebuild your personal confidence, and retake your infringed dignity by proving, if only to yourself, that you still have a contribution to make to society, and a degree of independence.
But when some silly inane thoughtless driver steals, for his own lazy and selfish ends, your small contribution to be independent, and do you own shopping; your own banking ot whatever, then it's not unreasonable that you loose your calm, and over-react.

So what's all this rant got to do with humanism?
Well, how we as individuals and as a society how we treat the less able bodied is an excellent barometer of the respect we show in general to our fellow human beings.
So the next time you think of just slipping in to a disabled parking bay to run to the cash machine, think again; do you really want to further steal the little dignity left to a disabled person, or do you want to show your humanism and give them some respect?

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