drummer

• there are two places in berkeley to get your wheel chair fixed.

one is a repairshop called "wheelchairs of berkeley" the other is me.
this city has the highest concentration of people with disabilities.

there use to be three other places to get wheelchairs repaired when i started working with the disabled.

Johnsons medical supply is in a grey area in this resource, they supply everything from rental chairs, walkers, commodes to catheters, humidifiers and bed pans.

today i got called to pick up a broken wheelchair from johnsons medical supply after the client transfered herself into a rented wheel chair.
this took longer than i expected because the client was afraid of everything and wanted
to have a lot explained to her, over and over.
while i was waiting a older black guy - probably in his 60's came up to the counter and announced that he was here for some "pee pads for my wife... i don't know what size or nuthin bra"
the man was dressed as a 2o year old hip hop kid with over sized shirt and new baseball cap
put on sideways.
" yo, bra, " " hey, i want what ever it is to keep her from peeing all over the bed!"
the guy kept yelling after the people left the counter to go back in to a storage room
" i just got out of a dance class!" "
they paid me 20 dollars to have these girls shake their ass
right in my face!"
he took off his hat and wiped his face with a handkerchief that was an old man giveaway.
they came back with a big package and said "ten bucks"
the guy pulled out his 20.
im sure he enjoyed earning the 20 and yet i couldn't help but want
the pads to be free to him.
i know we all eventually end up there. old and falling apart. needing some one
to take care of us in reverse infancy.
or, like my dad, we just die suddenly in an unexpected turn of events, bankrupt with huge personal debts i got to hear about for years.
either way since we all end up like that isn't there a way we can channel some of the billions
of dollars our country goes thru in exploits else where twords a somewhat natural end, rather
than such an undignified scramble and hustle by those who are most directly hit?
a more immediate problem was the client i was waiting for didn't understand that i fixed her
chair by the time she had gotten into the rental.
it was simply a bad connection in a wire that was the first thing i looked for and it just
took a little tightening. she wanted me to take the chair and fix it since that is what she had
most likely been planning for over who knows how many days.
rather than spend an equivelent time trying to get her to understand the repair i pushed her
chair out side and got in the chair and rode it up to a burrito shop. i knew the repair was good
but i justified my charade as a disabled customer ordering a burrito (where they offered to bring
the burrito to my table) was to test the chair for other malfunctions.
people get out of your way when youre in a chair. kids stare, adults ignore, smiles are blatantly non flirtatious, but sweetly condescending.