Finetooner's Blogs

When I was getting fitted with my lower left leg/ankle/foot orthotic, the technician handed me a brochure with an endless number of graphic designs that I could have had impregnated into my brace.  I opted for the standard, dull, boring, neoprene look instead.  Apparently, a LOT of people are not! 

Before I retired from the airport as a Flight Coordinator, I saw a proliferation of very high-tech, flashy, colorful assistive devices ranging from prosthetics, and orthotics, to wheelchairs.  I remember helping a young Mom and her son. The Mom was sporting a wildly colorful high tech right-below-knee prosthetic and obviously made no effort to disguise it or cover it up since she was wearing walking shorts.  She ambulated gracefully without a trace of a limp.  Impressed, I casually asked her about her prosthetic:  "how is it working for you." Her reply: "It's working beautifully." And it obviously was because she seemed very proud of her assistive device and how much it improved her gait.

My point? Since it is pretty difficult to disguise or cover up a missing limb or a spinal cord injury, are the proliferation of these high-tech gadgets gradually reaching the level of status symbols?  I mean many people (no,not all) who depend on such devices seem to be showing them off to the world-at-large like tattoos or body piercings.  Am I way-off base here or is there at least an element of truth to what I'm observing out there? 

Here's a related link (that I hope works!)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/13/fashion/13disa...

Awhile ago, I was flying from Atlanta to Columbia SC on business and had a fun adventure getting to my gate to say the least!  First, I approached a married couple who were both profoundly deaf and lost. (if you've ever been to ATL, it is a frightening place to get lost in, even without a disability to contend with!)  I was wearing my airport security badge, gained their confidence, gestured for them to follow me and I would direct them to their connecting gate.  On the train to their gate, the wife looked at me and mouthed a silent "thank you" and I just patted her on the arm and tried to convey "my pleasure" in return.  As soon as I was certain they were OK, I took the train in the other direction and on the way up the escalator to concourse "B," I spied a young man by himself with a white cane coming up behind me.  When he got off the escalator, I asked him if I could help him find his gate. He said "gladly....I'll just walk along beside you and as long as we are touching elbows I'll be fine."  Once I had him situated, I walked the 10 gates back up the concourse to my flight. All this to say........Our company has two primary service rules: 1) see the passenger, NOT the disability and 2) ask first if you can offer assistance.  As a representative of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, I'm always looking for people I can help when I'm at the airport because it's fun and good for business.  Honestly, in my lifetime of helping people with disabilities, I have only been "dissed" once that I can remember.  Do you appreciate it if someone offers you assistance or does it just bug you?  Most people like me don't have any ulterior motives or hidden agendas for wanting to help; they do it for pure enjoyment and not out of any obligation or sense of duty.  My own disabilities are only going to get worse with age; I don't think that sometime in the near-future I'll ever be annoyed if someone walks up to me and says with a smile "Is there something I can help you with?"

Way back in 1975 when my wife and I were living in San Jose, California, some of the crazier people in our church fellowship group managed to load an old 500 pound upright piano into the bed of a pickup truck.  Then, they loaded the piano bench and the piano player into the pickup bed too.  About 20 of us then went strolling alongside the pickup and sang Christmas Carols through many of the nearby neighborhoods and we caused quite a stir with that piano.  We got a lot of "How did you get that piano up in there??"  Our answer? "Trade secret." I don't know which group had more fun - The carolers with the pickup truck piano or the recipients of our Christmas cheer wherever we went a-playing and a-singing!

(This is rather lengthy but I hope you find it worth reading)

A New Year’s Holiday To Remember

Way back in 1966, I had fulfilled my year-long duty requirement as an intelligence analyst at Danang in Vietnam.  I had been overseas for almost three years straight without seeing my beloved USA.  My orders called for me to take a short-hop flight from Danang to Ton Son Nhut airport near what was formerly Saigon.  On the way to Saigon, we stopped at Cam Ranh Bay and Na Trang.  What was it that military personnel put on our flight? Body bags of soldiers who were also going home to families where Christmases would never be the same again………Names that would be eventually etched on the dark brooding granite walls of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.  <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

I got to Ton Son Nhut on December 30^th and checked into the transit barracks to await my flight back to the states the next day: New Year’s Eve.  That night I was treated to another random barrage of Viet Cong mortar fire, flares, and Hueys flying low over the airport with searchlights blazing.  The next day, our flight was scheduled to depart Ton Son Nhut at 3:00 PM in the afternoon.  160 weary marines and a couple of Air Force guys lined up at the airport terminal to be processed out.  Little did we know at the time but a Thai civilian airliner had nearly crash-landed on the main runway, closing it for 6 hours to assess runway damage and tow the damaged plane away.  Personnel told us to return back to the transit barracks.  Not a single soldier budged.  We had come this far and weren’t getting anywhere but on that plane.  We finally boarded a shiny new World Airways Boeing 707 and took off at 9:30 PM on New Year’s Eve.  Since it was a MAC charter flight, no alcohol was allowed.  However, the resourceful Marines had smuggled aboard enough booze to give everyone a pleasant buzz.  Small bottles and flasks were discretely passed all over the plane and the Marines were kind enough to include the handful of Air Force guys in the merriment.  The flight attendants, bless their hearts, just looked the other way and went about their business.  Midway between Saigon and Ton Son Nhut we celebrated the New Year with hugs, high fives, and mirth.  We landed in Yokota Japan about 4:00 AM on Jan 1^st, New Year’s Day, refueled, ate breakfast, nursed hangovers and departed for Travis Air Force Base, California, near Sacramento.  <o:p></o:p>

We landed at Travis (and this is where it really got interesting) about 7:30 PM on Dec 31^st again, for our second New Years Eve!!  We had flown through the International Date Line on the way back and lost a day enroute!  As we got off the plane, one of the most emotional scenes I have ever witnessed took place.  Battle-hardened soldiers threw themselves on the tarmac, rolling around on the pavement, weeping, and kissing the asphalt!  The sense of relief among all of us was palpable.  We had made it home alive.<o:p></o:p>

Three other Marines and I hired a taxi, squeezed our gear into the trunk and headed for the San Francisco International Airport 60 miles away.  The cab fare divided among four of us was astronomical even for 1966 but no one cared.  The three other Marines had more flying in store but my home was only 3 miles away!  I stayed in the taxi, had him stop at a liquor store on the way so I could buy a couple bottles of champagne and then headed to the house I had not seen for two years and nine months.  My Mother was totally shocked because I wasn’t scheduled in for a couple more days.<o:p></o:p>

I’ve never forgotten that trip and the overwhelming sense of gratitude and relief to once again be back on the soil of the country I had served and loved as a military man.  Cheers.<o:p></o:p>