Stephen Hawking and Me

Stephen Hawking has amazed and fascinated me from the day I first encountered him on TV. That a human being whose body is so limited that he requires electronic gadgets to move and even communicate has such a brilliant mind is probably not overly unique. What Professor Hawking has done with his mind is unique -- and staggering.He has been called "the greatest mind on earth." I cannot disagree.

After seeing Professor Hawking on TV, I purchased and read his book A Brief History of Time and then The Universe in a Nutshell. Both books are written so that non-scientific dudes like me can have some understanding of Professor Hawking's concepts. Some understanding, but far from complete understanding. The brilliance of the knowledge he has shared with us is so immense that to fully perceive it would require a lifetime -- or more.

That being said, I do share a very small part of Professor Hawking's existence: there are times when I sit in wheelchair. (Not the Rolls Royce type that he has; I have a very simple one with no gadgets).

Unlike Professor Hawking, I can walk without the chair; I can talk without a gadget. Still, there is something about being in a wheelchair that seems to  broadcast to some people that we (all in wheelchairs) are more handicapped than we truly are.

For example, last Monday I had an appointment at the Verterans' Administration outpatient clinic with my case managing physician. I prefer to attend AV appointments, be they at the clinic or the hospital, riding in the chair. It isn't that I can't walk, it's that the distance I must walk is so great that walking exhausted both my legs and my lungs.
And. for some reason, all of the chairs at VA facilities have arms on them and my fat ass excessive posterior doesn't fit between the arms.

When they finally called me from the waiting room of the clinic to see Doc Lauren, the first stop is always for a weigh in. The nurse who escorted me was one whom I did not know (and who did not know me). At the scales the nurse asked Sam, my temporary caregiver who was pushing my chair, "Can he stand up?" I answered, "Yes, I can." and demonstrated that skill by getting up and standing on the scale. (Where I was pleased to learn that I have lost 17 pounds since my last weigh-in).

During the visit the nurse continued to address remarks and questions to Sam, ignoring my presence., until I said, "Please speak to me, not my caregiver." It was as if my sitting in a wheelchair and breathing from a portable oxygen tank broadcast that I was not just having problems with mobility and breath, but also with hearing, speech, and probably understanding.

That visit wasn't the only time someone has addressed my caregivers when I've been in the wheelchair. I suppose some folks simply make assumptions about folks based upon things like the person is mobility challenged. (Lord, I really dislike that politically correct phrase!)

So last week, after the visit, I began thinking: If folks make those assumptions about me what assumptions must folks make about Stephen Hawking? Do they discount the greatest mind on earth because that mind is housed in a frail body? I rather suspect they do.

They do for the same reason people judge others based upon the color of the skin, the accent with which they speak, the length (or shortness) of their hair, and lots of other superficial stuff. They do so because they don't know the person.

I rather think that this world be a much more peaceful and just place if people allowed themselves to know others rather than making superficial judgements about them.

I wish.