Once upon a time there was a lady. She was a lovely lady. Energetic, positive, happily married, and constantly on the lookout to improve her skills, help others and share her wisdom and expertise with those around her. Boring, you say? Thirteen in a dozen? So what? This lady lived in a country not so far away, a country priding itself on equal rights for all, technologically advanced, incredibly socially aware. In fact this country prides itself on being one of the forerunners in social awareness and the emancipation of its minority groups are literally second to none other in the world. The story that follows made me wonder what is going on. The lady above has cerebral palsy. In the past this was called spastic. People with cerebral palsy have muscles that do things that are not in control of their owners. There are various grades and I am no expert at it. What I do know is that this lady, let’s call her Alice, has the kind that makes her unable to walk, move her legs and many more muslces. This results in her having to go around in an electric wheelchair that she controls with just a few fingers. Most muscles in the arms and hand do not work to the same extent most peoples do either. Alice is a feisty lady, upbeat and has always held down jobs. She has a brain as sharp as a tack and has been a fantastic asset to many an organisation. The first time I met Alice was when she wheeled herself into a personal development seminar in Maui (that is on the other side of the world for her) beaming from ear to ear with her husband Robert in tow who also happens to have cerebral palsy, Robert can walk though. He wore a grin to match his wife’s. Their first language is not English, yet these two people made it across the world with their endearing smiles as passport and just leaving hordes of people stunned in their wake as they continued to travel around (I met this inspiring couple many times after in various locations on Earth). Both worked, saving their money to travel and learn. We kept in touch over the years. My latest conversation with Alice was a few weeks ago. She was made redundant about a year ago and just applied for a new job. She was made an offer on the following conditions: she gets grown up diapers/nappies and when she needs to go, she just let go and sits in this all day until she gets home. Wow! What an enlightened strategy! I was stunned. Which other potential workers did they propose this to? And who the hell would want to sit next to someone who’d emptied their bowels and bladder a few hours ago and was stewing in it? Get real, it may be time to name companies? Authorities? Countries? If you think this is pretty barbarian too, let me know! And Alice and Robert, keep shining. The world is with you and on your side…..
