Having strength and the commitment to persevere no matter what obstacles are placed before us, we need to show a willingness to be appreciated by others.
The simplicity of daily contemplation of the good which has, had or will happen, pays dividends. It is imperative that we do something positive to show we can be influential in the "greatness" of others.
Continuing on with the "mirror study," mentioning the irrelevance of how individuals appear on the outside, has a role for some. There is "an inner beauty" that can be seen when reaching maturity. There are of course those who handle maturity in their own way, on their own terms, in their own time. Usually what happens after an event occurs in the life of the individual, wisdom is the response. Wisdom offers looking at things from the perspective of another, be that person, male, female, able-bodied or disabled.
When given the opportunity to check out the toggle switch on my current wheelchair, it recently occurred to me. There are three things that need to be watched while in this wheelchair. The first two things are what I should not do.
Do not take the wheelchair out in inclement weather, particularly snow and other liquid precipitation. The second thing I must not do is have or use a cellular or cordless telephone near the wheelchair's electronic components as it may cause inadvertent forward or backward wheelchair movement. The customer service representative I spoke with said "common sense applies" and I agreed.
I've only had one electronic malfunction thus far. I've let it go. Maybe the two discharged batteries caused the problem. Who knows?
The one thing that I am allowed to do while in this 300-pound "gizmo" is read. I did a double take on this "can-do" opportunity. I thought to myself, "The iconic picture showed the individual with a book and an arm on top of the open book. Is this supposed to infer writing capabilities of the operator?"
My thoughts then were, "I can't write anymore with my right hand anyways." When I called the customer service line and was put on hold as caller number 4, I spoke with a female representative who stated that the only function I can do is read (the instructions) - writing was not given as an option.
There was not a disrespectful word spoken between us, as I used what was told to me. Battery life can be as short as one year. It depends on a variety of circumstances. My battery(ies) lasted three years. It's called maintenance. Abusing that which provides me the opportunity to travel is the point.
Harboring angst against members of a society whom one feels is against them serves little or no purpose. My apologies, I mis-spoke. There is a purpose served: Bigger issues demanding bigger solutions. Some refer to this as the "snowball effect."
The winter of 2011 and spring season 2012 didn't produce much snow, yet the cold that enveloped the Western New York area created its own set of problems for area farmers. I guess now the prices we will see in the future for locally grown fruits and vegetables will have to rise. Does this mean the federal government will bail out the cherry, apple, peach and concord grape farmers with yet another stimulus package?
Michael J. Henry is a Sheridan resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com
