Sometime this morning I had a dream that I was paralyzed from the waist down. And that my upper body strength wasn't anything to shake a stick at, so I had to tool around in an electric wheelchair. (I think part of this was because I was sleeping on my stomach and Misty was sleeping on my lower back, so I really couldn't move for a while.)
And boy was it irritating!
I must have been in an accident or something, because I had the impression I had just gone back to work after an extended period of not working. I was still working my same job, but one of the other people in the office was in a meeting and I was alone answering the phones and greeting people at the front window.
Well, I fell asleep at my desk, and then I heard the little bell people ring when there's no one at the front desk. I woke up--oops!--and the weird thing was that I was in bed, and that I had forgotten momentarily that I was paralyzed. So I started to stand up and it just didn't work. Damn!
I grabbed my wheelchair, which had somehow been pushed away from my bed, and got into it (it was hard, too) and then I was in the office again.
There were eight people in the waiting room! And all of them were walk-in referrals or with referrals. And I was alone in the office in a wheelchair!
It was very hard to manuever the wheelchair and open the doors connected to the waiting room. (No handicapped access on two doors.) It was even more difficult trying to balance--I felt like I was going to fall out of the wheelchair at any time. It was practically impossible to make copies, because the copier was too high for me to use (I'm not really sure this would be the case in real life, but it seemed like it was too high. Maybe when I get back to work I'll try it out and see.)
It didn't help that two of the people were prior consumers--well, the guy was and his wife was just grumbling under her breath because it was taking so long. But I was trying to serve people in the order they arrived, and they were last.
And that damned phone kept ringing, too.
The two priors ended up in some sort of kitchen area after walking through the door, and I had to go after them and ask them to return to the waiting room since our policies had changed. They didn't like the fact that we now did a group intake, and they didn't like the fact that they had to be served by a cripple. (Seriously. I couldn't believe they said this! The place I work for serves people with disabilities!)
At any time I could have knocked on the meeting room door and asked for the other lady's help, but I was determined to do it myself. After all, I reasoned, if I couldn't do it now, then I wouldn't ever be able to do it. And I tried. And tried. And it was horrible, because the office was not set up for people in wheelchairs.
I'm really not sure how our intern (who was in a wheelchair) managed. I know for a fact that he couldn't reach the fax machine. However, he plays tennis, and his upper body strength is a lot better than mine was in my dream!
I hear the Memorial Day parade going past. They are 11 minutes late. If I peer out my office window, I'll be able to see them walking down Main Street.
And boy was it irritating!
I must have been in an accident or something, because I had the impression I had just gone back to work after an extended period of not working. I was still working my same job, but one of the other people in the office was in a meeting and I was alone answering the phones and greeting people at the front window.
Well, I fell asleep at my desk, and then I heard the little bell people ring when there's no one at the front desk. I woke up--oops!--and the weird thing was that I was in bed, and that I had forgotten momentarily that I was paralyzed. So I started to stand up and it just didn't work. Damn!
I grabbed my wheelchair, which had somehow been pushed away from my bed, and got into it (it was hard, too) and then I was in the office again.
There were eight people in the waiting room! And all of them were walk-in referrals or with referrals. And I was alone in the office in a wheelchair!
It was very hard to manuever the wheelchair and open the doors connected to the waiting room. (No handicapped access on two doors.) It was even more difficult trying to balance--I felt like I was going to fall out of the wheelchair at any time. It was practically impossible to make copies, because the copier was too high for me to use (I'm not really sure this would be the case in real life, but it seemed like it was too high. Maybe when I get back to work I'll try it out and see.)
It didn't help that two of the people were prior consumers--well, the guy was and his wife was just grumbling under her breath because it was taking so long. But I was trying to serve people in the order they arrived, and they were last.
And that damned phone kept ringing, too.
The two priors ended up in some sort of kitchen area after walking through the door, and I had to go after them and ask them to return to the waiting room since our policies had changed. They didn't like the fact that we now did a group intake, and they didn't like the fact that they had to be served by a cripple. (Seriously. I couldn't believe they said this! The place I work for serves people with disabilities!)
At any time I could have knocked on the meeting room door and asked for the other lady's help, but I was determined to do it myself. After all, I reasoned, if I couldn't do it now, then I wouldn't ever be able to do it. And I tried. And tried. And it was horrible, because the office was not set up for people in wheelchairs.
I'm really not sure how our intern (who was in a wheelchair) managed. I know for a fact that he couldn't reach the fax machine. However, he plays tennis, and his upper body strength is a lot better than mine was in my dream!
I hear the Memorial Day parade going past. They are 11 minutes late. If I peer out my office window, I'll be able to see them walking down Main Street.
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