REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL (DESPITE HAVING MS)
No.3
I can park close to the shops and most times it’s free
I resisted it for a long time but in the end I had to admit the need for a blue badge. My name is Andy and I’m disabled. That was a hard one to accept but the blue badge was that state of affairs rubber stamped. Rather than the fact that I’m a blue badge holder, I prefer to think of the episode of The IT Crowd where Roy uses the disabled toilet before pulling the emergency cord, thinking it’s the flush, then has to pretend he’s had his wheelchair stolen. ‘I’m disabled!’ he squeaks to the concerned staff, who wonder how he’s had his wheelchair stolen while he’s in a locked toilet. [IT Crowd 'I'm Disabled' link]
‘I’m disabled!’ said in the same silly high-pitched voice as Roy is exactly what came out of my mouth when I got that piece of plastic through the post. I guess I was deflecting some of the pain I felt at having it confirmed in such incontrovertible fashion by summoning up what in my opinion is one of the funniest sitcom episodes ever.
Also softening the blow was the picture on my shiny
new blue badge. I found an old passport photo in the back of a drawer from my
wannabe rock star days. I stared at this youthful face framed by long hair (a
stranger once told me I looked like Kurt Cobain – surely one of my proudest
days) and couldn’t help viewing my carefree pre-MS expression with something
akin to dismay. I realise there was no way of knowing what was on its way, but why
did I have to waste so much of my youthful, healthy years on hangovers and bad
fashion choices. If only I’d have known, I’d have tried to be awake for longer,
made the most of every minute and not belly-ached about so much small,
inconsequential crap.
And yes, I know you’re supposed to use a recent image,
but it wasn’t that long ago and still
looked like me and how often do you like a passport photo of yourself? And I
have to admit a tiny thrill at the thought of a ticket inspector examining the
badge and thinking, ‘Hey, this disabled guy looks cool.’ Me? Shallow? How very
dare you.
Anyway, that was my first disabled badge. I’m onto my
second now and for this one I did use a recent photo that displayed every line
from my fifty-two years. It amuses me to imagine it’s the same person who
administered my application this time around. She would, of course, remember me
from the first ‘Kurt Cobain didn’t really kill himself he’s alive and well and
living in Yorkshire
They of course agreed I was disabled – the evidence
was pretty clear – and I still get to park in prime spots in the town centre in
most places across the country and without even paying for the privilege [legal
edit: if it’s council run and the council has a reciprocal policy for people out
of the area, which most do]. Well there has to be some benefits, right? When I
went away to
That’s the type of thing that makes me happy to utter
those two words that I resisted saying for so long and to utter them in a high,
loud and silly voice:
‘I’m disabled!’
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