Friday, November 1, 2013

The "look" of Cancer

I don't look like I have cancer, however, that doesn't make it any less real, or lethal. It is very common for me to come across people that don't believe me and I don't really mind what those people think. In 2008, I lost my hair and had many visible indicators of cancer and people treated me like I looked. It's ironic that now I have had more chemo than ever and have cancer worse than before, but since I don't have those physical indicators, people don't believe me. I don't mind people treating my like a healthy every day person, but when people accuse me of lying or taking advantage, I get frustrated. Today, I was walking out of the bank when a sweet looking lady asked me if I was disabled. I said yes. Then, she started in on me, yelling at me that I certainly was not disabled and that I looked fine to her. I assured her that I was disabled and after she kept on and told me I should have saved the parking space that I was using for the "crippleds", I got it. I couldn't' believe it. She was mad because I parked in the handicap space and she felt I didn't deserve it. Clearly the DMV and my doctors disagree or I wouldn't have the placard hanging from my review mirror. I told her she had no idea about my situation and that she should be ashamed of herself. I also told her I would pray for her to realize how lucky she was. She ignored me and kept walking into the bank, not believing a word. No one likes to be judged and we often have no idea what other people are really going through. Clearly that lady had a lot more going on in her life to be so upset about a parking space and I really did pray for her that life will get better. But I'm sick or people being so rude. It seems like people are getting more and more aggressive about it. I also think there are a lot of people that abuse the "perks" and lie about illness and other situations. But, is it better to let and few liars slide and get "perks" to avoid putting the truly ill people through such terrible accusations? I understand many people abuse the reserved parking, but there are a lot of people that LOOK fine but are truly disabled. I wonder if she would have taken a second to hear me and understand my situation if she would have apologized, or even agreed that I wasn't parking illegally. I told her I would love to trade her places and she had no idea what I was going through but she never heard a word. Should we walk around judging everyone and their situation? Why can't people just live and let live? Why can't we treat everyone with kindness and understanding?