# Dont be Shy...Please! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 9, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390 "2011-07-09T08:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/121 "2011-07-13T04:32:03Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > No, it really isn’t. Duly noted internet guy. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/122 "2011-07-13T04:39:09Z")
Well, you’re a body builder, so that’s all muscle, not fat, right? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/123 "2011-07-13T04:52:12Z")
Sorry if I was to blame for turning your thread into “Ask the guy who won a medical malpractice suit.” 🙂 If I am out with small children and one of them starts loudly asking me questions about why you’re sitting in that chair and why your legs don’t work, how do you prefer me to handle it? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/124 "2011-07-13T05:15:06Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > Sorry if I was to blame for turning your thread into “Ask the guy who won a medical malpractice suit.” 🙂 > > If I am out with small children and one of them starts loudly asking me questions about why you’re sitting in that chair and why your legs don’t work, how do you prefer me to handle it? This is an interesting question. This type of scenario, or something similar, happens all the time. Of course children have no filters and have non-stop curiousity. I don’t mind this and I enjoy interacting with kids. Most of time the parents are much too sensitive about how I may react to the kids honest curiousity and they scold the child(ren) wanting to know about me. I know it’s motivated out of a (misplaced) true concern for my feelings but if I were that fragile and unable to smile and deal with young kids’ curiousity, I wouldn’t be out and about in the world in the first place. I wouldn’t want the kids’ curiousity to be stifled, so I wouldn’t want them scolded. Now the appropriateness of the loudness of their questions I think is part of what your answer to them should entail. Tell them, in as simple terms as possible, that that man was hurt and his legs don’t work anymore; so he must use that chair so he can get around places. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/125 "2011-07-13T12:28:49Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > I couldn’t tell you anything about safety/discrimination with amusement park rides. Not an amusement park kinda guy I guess. Although I have been awfully curious about one thing: at places such as Cedar Point or other large, busy amusement parks, I’ve always heard that people in wheelchairs get “cuts” to the front of the line (or go around the line altogether and enter in different area). 😕 Is this true? If so, I could (theoretically at least) go past a quarter-mile of sweaty, impatient people waiting to ride the ride, so I could enjoy it myself AND get off and do the whole thing over again. :eek: My late wife was unable to walk for than short distances and used a motorized scooter whenever she left the house. Just about all of the places we went to that had long lines, including Disney World, Epcot Center, and Universal, either had special handicapped entrances or some way for people in wheelchairs to get to the entrance without waiting in line. On one trip a friend who had driven us there was thrilled that he didn’t have to wait in line while he was with us. Unfortunately, I’ve heard that some people take advantage of this and will rent a wheelchair (many parks have them available for a modest fee, or even just a deposit) and take turns riding in it so their group can cut the line. I am of the opinion that people who do this should be duct-taped into a wheelchair for a period of at least a week. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/126 "2011-07-13T21:01:23Z")
Some totally unrelated questions: Re: Doctor’s visits/general healthcare: Do you have to worry about bedsores? Do you have to go to regular checkups more often than a non-disabled person does? Do you have a different doctor you have to see in addition to your regular GP who you have to see regularly? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390/127 "2011-07-13T21:16:46Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Some totally unrelated questions: > Re: Doctor’s visits/general healthcare: > > Do you have to worry about bedsores? > Do you have to go to regular checkups more often than a non-disabled person does? > Do you have a different doctor you have to see in addition to your regular GP who you have to see regularly? 1. anyone in a wheelchair has to worry about pressure sores (aka “bedsores”). However, given the fact that I can feel everywhere in my body, including everywhere in my lower body, I don’t sit in any one position long enough to develop problems. When I feel discomfort, I move. That, combined with my high level of activity has made pressure sores (which is where an area of skin that is under constant pressure from being sat on or laid on and begins to become infected and die due to a lack of blood being able to travel through that area) a pretty much non-existent problem for me. 2. Well, I see my “wheelchair doc” every 6months. An able-bodied person, in good health, is seen for check-ups once a year, isn’t that correct? (it’s been awhile since I’ve been able-bodied :p). 3. I have a GP in town who I can see for regular, run-of-the-mill health issues, unrelated to my disability (bronchitis, various illnesses, etc.). This is more of a convenience factor than anything else, as my physiatrist (wheelchair doc) is more than an hour away from where I live and I must schedule visits weeks in advance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-shy-please/588390.md?page=6)