7 June 2005
Tim had to give a tutorial to a group of lawyers this morning so he got up pretty early and woke up Lillian as well. When I got up, they were just about to head out. Tim couldn’t find his wallet at first and then he remembered he left it in the car. The car was parked at the front so he had to get out of the front door. Lillian was all ready to go to the childcare and thought he had left her behind and was trying to follow him. I had to shut the front door quickly so she doesn’t get out. Her body was in the way so I couldn’t shut the door properly. I was thinking of a way to distract her to get her away from the door but Tim was too quick. He pushed the door open before I could even stop him. Poor Lillian was standing right behind the door and was knocked over the floor. It looked a bit like a plot out of a slapstick comedy except Lillian was on the floor crying. It made me feel so guilty because it happened so fast that there was nothing I could do. Tim helped her up and put her in the pram and left for childcare.
I had to go to MECRS for my hydro self help group this morning. When I was trying to get to the end of our street, I realised there was a road block and I had to take a detour to get to Royal Parade. The detour distracted me because as I was driving along Royal Parade, I missed the turn to go to the zoo (MECRS is further up from the zoo) and just kept going. I only realised that I was almost at Park Street. I think MECRS also has an entrance on Park Street but I’ve never been there and I didn’t want to risk being late for my hydro. I decided to do a U-turn and head back the way I’m familiar with. When I got to the pool, there were all the physios in the pool. They must be having some kind of training there. I only recognise two of the physios there. The staff turnover seems quite high there so there are always new staff joining.
We had to wait for them to finish first before we could get in. When we were finally allowed to get in the pool, I realised there were more people today. I thought some people may have finished their program because I haven’t seen them for many weeks but they all turned up today. I think some people come in to socialise as well. There are a few little groups. They usually stay at the same spot and chat throughout the whole session. Sometimes I wonder why turn up at all. It always annoys me to see some people who spend a lot of time chatting in the pool instead of doing their exercises and then they don’t get out of the pool until the very last minute and when I get to the shower before they do, they will whinge and moan and try to get me to hurry up. I was very tempted to tell them where to go last time they tried to hurry me up.
I don’t really have anyone to talk to in the pool. I’m not in any of the little groups. It doesn’t bother me because I go there to do my exercises, not try to make friends. Most of the people there are at least 50 something, I think. Most of the people in the group are women so having a shower after the pool is a real problem. It’s very hard to accommodate 12 women in the 2 showers they have in the changeroom.
After my hydro, I went to Barkly Square in Brunswick to do some grocery shopping. I got there about 10.30 a.m., thinking it should not be too busy but I was not able to get a disabled parking spot. I went there last week after my hydro as well and there were many disabled parking spots available. In fact, I was quite upset when I was walking back to the car with a trolley full of stuff and was trying to load up the boot and a woman stopped her car right next to me and said ‘this is disabled parking ‘. I looked at her and said ‘yes, I know’ and continued on with unloading the bags from the trolley. She said to me again ‘ this is disabled parking’. I looked at her and said ‘ I know and I am’. She looked at me up and down and said ‘ you don’t look like it’. I know many people would think I should feel flattered but I was quite upset because I don’t think I need to justify my ‘disabilities’ to anybody. I just ignored her.
I guess I wouldn’t have this problem today because I couldn’t get a disabled parking spot. I drove around for a while and finally found a spot next to a big Commodore. I went to Coles first because I know I can get a trolley there. I found it makes walking easier with a trolley. I suppose it’s almost the same as using a walking frame which takes away a lot of the body weight. I normally do my shopping using Coles On Line but I found it’s better if I get my fruit and vegetables from a grocery store. I didn’t really need a lot from Coles today but I went and got a few things anyway so I can use their trolley. When I was at a checkout counter, a woman with a pram came over and told me this is the only lane she could push the pram out. The shop assistant was still in the middle of scanning all the items from my trolley and I couldn’t really make enough room for her to get through. She hurried me up and told me that I had to move out of the line to make room for her pram. I really felt like saying to her ‘yes, fxxx you, too’ but I didn’t want to be rude in public so I had to get out of the line. She noticed my ankle brace and said ‘ oh, you have a sore foot’. She didn’t thank me or appologise for making my life more difficult. Some people are just so rude.
I had to go to MECRS for my hydro self help group this morning. When I was trying to get to the end of our street, I realised there was a road block and I had to take a detour to get to Royal Parade. The detour distracted me because as I was driving along Royal Parade, I missed the turn to go to the zoo (MECRS is further up from the zoo) and just kept going. I only realised that I was almost at Park Street. I think MECRS also has an entrance on Park Street but I’ve never been there and I didn’t want to risk being late for my hydro. I decided to do a U-turn and head back the way I’m familiar with. When I got to the pool, there were all the physios in the pool. They must be having some kind of training there. I only recognise two of the physios there. The staff turnover seems quite high there so there are always new staff joining.
We had to wait for them to finish first before we could get in. When we were finally allowed to get in the pool, I realised there were more people today. I thought some people may have finished their program because I haven’t seen them for many weeks but they all turned up today. I think some people come in to socialise as well. There are a few little groups. They usually stay at the same spot and chat throughout the whole session. Sometimes I wonder why turn up at all. It always annoys me to see some people who spend a lot of time chatting in the pool instead of doing their exercises and then they don’t get out of the pool until the very last minute and when I get to the shower before they do, they will whinge and moan and try to get me to hurry up. I was very tempted to tell them where to go last time they tried to hurry me up.
I don’t really have anyone to talk to in the pool. I’m not in any of the little groups. It doesn’t bother me because I go there to do my exercises, not try to make friends. Most of the people there are at least 50 something, I think. Most of the people in the group are women so having a shower after the pool is a real problem. It’s very hard to accommodate 12 women in the 2 showers they have in the changeroom.
After my hydro, I went to Barkly Square in Brunswick to do some grocery shopping. I got there about 10.30 a.m., thinking it should not be too busy but I was not able to get a disabled parking spot. I went there last week after my hydro as well and there were many disabled parking spots available. In fact, I was quite upset when I was walking back to the car with a trolley full of stuff and was trying to load up the boot and a woman stopped her car right next to me and said ‘this is disabled parking ‘. I looked at her and said ‘yes, I know’ and continued on with unloading the bags from the trolley. She said to me again ‘ this is disabled parking’. I looked at her and said ‘ I know and I am’. She looked at me up and down and said ‘ you don’t look like it’. I know many people would think I should feel flattered but I was quite upset because I don’t think I need to justify my ‘disabilities’ to anybody. I just ignored her.
I guess I wouldn’t have this problem today because I couldn’t get a disabled parking spot. I drove around for a while and finally found a spot next to a big Commodore. I went to Coles first because I know I can get a trolley there. I found it makes walking easier with a trolley. I suppose it’s almost the same as using a walking frame which takes away a lot of the body weight. I normally do my shopping using Coles On Line but I found it’s better if I get my fruit and vegetables from a grocery store. I didn’t really need a lot from Coles today but I went and got a few things anyway so I can use their trolley. When I was at a checkout counter, a woman with a pram came over and told me this is the only lane she could push the pram out. The shop assistant was still in the middle of scanning all the items from my trolley and I couldn’t really make enough room for her to get through. She hurried me up and told me that I had to move out of the line to make room for her pram. I really felt like saying to her ‘yes, fxxx you, too’ but I didn’t want to be rude in public so I had to get out of the line. She noticed my ankle brace and said ‘ oh, you have a sore foot’. She didn’t thank me or appologise for making my life more difficult. Some people are just so rude.
posted by Teresa Liu at 1:14 AM
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