Crippled in NYC

After a pretty crappy day and finally accepting the fact that my left knee is out of commission for God knows how long, I spent today trying to learn what life is like here as a cripple.

Here are some things I've noticed from today...

1. NYC is not cripple friendly. Going up the stairs of a bus is difficult. Good luck finding escalators or elevators in subway stations. And people don't care if you're limping, just get out of their way because you're going way too slow for them.

2. It affects work. I can't walk around the office, freely run and get my cord, keep up with my coworkers going to lunch, or even get water without paying for it with pain. Some people say, "oh let me get that for you," but you know it eats into their work and their productivity and you feel bad.

3. You have less time. Walking home takes twice as long and it's twice as hard, putting on pants, socks, and even climbing into the bathtub takes a bit more time, so...you lose a bunch of time which is what New Yorkers apparently value most, secondary to money

So this is a bit negative, and I must admit, I feel pretty negative because without my leg, I feel like I've lost a bit of my livelihood and vitality. But here are good things that I learned today

1. NYC may not be cripple friendly, but it's beautiful watching the dynamics of the city when you're not part of everything else. As I was walking to work and attempting to get off of the bus, I felt like I was invisible amongst a flurry of people zooming by. It was kind of beautiful looking at NYC from a different perspective. Try it next time. Walk slowly :-).

2. There is hope in this world because most people are nice to you and try to make life a little bit easier for you :-).

3. You spend more time doing everyday tasks, but you appreciate each task because you start to understand how much brainpower and muscle control each activity actually requires. It's not like pushing a button anymore, you're inquiring within and with your body to figure out the next best approach to do something you thought was easy.

So cheers to you, my knee, for teaching me to appreciate life in NYC.