If you have been reading my last few blogs you will know that I have been a little poorly. Because of this, I have been left with quite a few medical issues and I am pretty weak. Therefore yesterday was quite difficult.
Yesterday was the day we went to Goodwood Revival. I like to go every year as Mini Giant68 plays a major part in organising this and the Festival of Speed. I like to go just so I can see how good he is at his job, and how proud I have to be of him. But don't tell him that. I am lucky as I have 2 children who achieved great things and 3 grandchildren that, I am sure will go on to do the same.
Anyway, Revival. Mrs Giant68 came very close to Mark Webber and then held a snake. We rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jenson Button, Karun Chandhok, Dominic Chinea (Repair Shop, of which I am a great fan), and various others. The benefits of having connections to someone senior at Goodwood mean breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea in the Drivers Club.
Usually, when we attend we would expect to do somewhere between 12000 & 15000 steps. At present there is no way that I can do that. I can barely manage 1000 before I am too knackered to carry on and am wiped out for the rest of the day. Also, at the moment, going out for the day is made more difficult due to the medication I must take. In the 16 pills I take every morning are diuretics, quite a few. This means that through the mornings I will be going for a pee, roughly, every 10 - 15 minutes. So to go out for a day means that I can't take these pills. Which leads to all sorts of problems the next day, and later that day actually.
This time we were accompanied by 2 good friends who, for the sake of argument, we will call Rob and Jill, basically because those are their names. We always have a great time with these two and this time would be the same. Apart from the fact that Rob pushed me around all day in a wheelchair. This is frustrating for someone who has always been independent and able to get about under his own steam, but I had to admit that I had to give in and submit to this. it did make life a little easier, for me if not for Rob.
This gave me a different perspective. I have been 6'8" since I was 14 years old. For 44 years I have looked over the top of crowds of people. This time my eye level was at about the same height as most people's backsides. Some were quite admirable, some not so. But, either way, the experience made me feel quite claustrophobic. I didn't enjoy the experience of being hemmed in. There were massive crowds of people there. This is where the wheelchair rage comes in.
People are, quite often, frickin' ignorant and rude bastards. While I expected no favours just because I was in a wheelchair I was quite surprised how many people would not get out of the way, would actively get in the way, and would get so close that I felt they would sit on my lap. I had my walking stick with me and it was so tempting to start hooking ankles with it. Rob did an excellent job of navigating all the obstacles but it was infuriating, especially for someone like me who gets annoyed when people stop, suddenly, right in front or walk slowly while taking up the entire path. So now, to add to the pedestrian rage, I have wheelchair rage. And that was just one day. How do regular wheelchair users survive without losing it and going postal? They have to deal with much more than I did. They have to get on and off buses, and trains. etc. They have to get around busy shops. I admire them. And will watch out for them now. Make sure you do as well. In fact, if you see someone in a wheelchair struggling, actively help. Actually, be helpful to anyone struggling, that makes more sense.
I am now going to carry on sitting on my sofa, watching the TV while trying to recover from yesterday's shenanigans.
Regards
Giant68 :-)
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