I have not seen Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby", but I now know that the ending plays up the value of life with a disability as worthless (see CBC or CNN). Sorry, maybe I should've said *spoiler alert* there. So great, all we need is another celebrated cultural phenomenon to make everyone think that if by some standard of life you are something less, than you really don't have anything to live for. And I'm not just talking about people with spinal cord injuries here. I'm not arguing for going to the edge and beyond of the limits of medical science, but life is not over if you use a wheelchair or a cane. Or if you're overweight. And perhaps that's my real issue here, because it sure feels like it sometimes.
Okay, so I could stand to lose a few. But let's put aside the need for me to be more healthy, at whatever size and weight, and think about this for a moment. Just because the seats on airplanes are not made for my ass to be comfortable doesn't mean that it's only me that has to change. How about putting this in the context of the hearing impaired. Obviously they just have to learn to hear or some reasonable fascimile right? Uh, no. I mean that's great if that's what you choose as a hearing impaired person, for reasons free and clear of the need to fit to the Standard Operating Manual of Society, but why should you feel obligated to? Maybe we can all bend the standard in such a way that even manages to benefit us all?
Like ramps at a reasonable incline and wide doorways that fit wheelchairs and power outlets halfway up the wall. Like a sign language interpreter at events not just when someone needs the political feel-good capital. Like a large selection of reasonably priced clothing for those of us who aren't shaped like Barbie.
Enough of all that and just maybe, over time, people will value life more. In all its permutations.
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