Broken Lives Matter

This week has flown by, hasn't it? I can't even tell you what my Monday was like:( I've forgotten it completely in my prematurely senior brain! But a couple VERY interesting things have happened in the Disabled Community this week that I think everyone should be made aware of if they're not already. 1) The Government has begun quietly chipping away at Benefits for the Disabled--meaning SSI. I would love to say this is exaggerated, but I don't think it is. Listening to the kids on the Autism spectrum that I volunteer with, restrictions are getting much tighter, and it's becoming much more difficult to keep what you already have. I believe this actually comes from good intentions; the Government is trying to prevent people from taking advantage of the incredibly generous system Americans have for people with disabilities--which is very noble. But in the process, of course, those who qualify for benefits and/or subsidies out of genuine need are being burned. Li...

Good Evening, Lovelies! Weather predictions for this weekend are dire indeed. As much as poor New South Wales, Australia is burning--that's how much WE will be encased in ice this weekend. Isn't nature astounding? So I've made plans to exclude myself from EVERY possible equation this weekend. No braving the sidewalks around home to visit my favorite haunts, no riding the bus through rainstorms or ice squalls in hopes of finding the sidewalks in the suburbs nicely salted. Nope. I'll be home sweet home! Enjoying the quiet of a world under glass--so to speak--and waiting it out until the pedestrian walkways are as carefully de-iced as the roadways! I have high hopes that the forecasts were all exaggerated out of an abundance of caution so people would opt to stay home, but you never can tell. People get so used to ice and snow and the freezing cold that they brave it--and suffer the consequences--no matter what. When I think about it, I can't help but wonder if t...

I was flustered, just trying to get to a restroom in time. Ran into the public library (my old standby) and saw a woman walking into the big stall with no visible physical challenge or mobility aid. I called out and asked her, "would you mind? You don't need that." Which I should have finished with "--for your mobility aid" or "for your wheelchair" or whatever. But like I said, I was flustered and in a hurry. Maybe I SHOULD have just sucked it up and left my walker outside the stalls. I've done that before so...it's not like I'm not used to it. BUT that's exactly it; I've done it before; I didn't WANT to do it again. She came back with, "don't tell me I don't need it!" I imagine she isn't used to being told what she can or cannot do. She needs to sign the register:) If you're disabled in this country EVERYONE tells you want you can't do. The additional complication of the Disabled putting each ot...

Does this "geek you out" as much as it did me?!!!! The company that was (in another name) popular when I was a kid has made DISABILITY popular!!! Oh Lovelies, THIS is a big deal:)