How about something like those flags that go on the back of bikes? You could custom make them to something that fits your unique style. Maybe a dude tripping with a circle with a line through it? 
I’ve got a buddy who is 23. He had both his arms amputated just below the elbows and both his legs amputated just above the knees. When he was 9 years old he suffered frost bite and so they amputated. They also infected him with HIV and according to the Dr.s he should have been dead long ago, but that’s another story.
He gets around on an old, beat up skateboard. I am amazed at some of the shit this kid has to put up with. People either do not pay attention and do stupid clumsy shit, or they sit there and gawk. Nick is a hell of a good guy and I am inspired by how hell he handles all of it. The worst one was when we were on our way into the bar and a waitress tripped over him and spilled her tray of beers all over him. Not only did she not apologize to him, but she started bitching at him and even said he needs to be wearing a bell.
Needless to say, we left the bar and never returned.
I’m thinking spikes. Long, sharp spikes. That oughta do it.
Agreed–and I thought of that annoying car alarm–the one that goes: “step away from the vehicle; you are too close to the vehicle!”
heh.
How about something like teeny tiny missile launchers? They bump you, you hit the “fire” button and they never, ever, ever bump you or anybody else in a chair again!
I feel for ya, Carnick. I have had to make use of wheelchairs off and on, and some people can be amazingly dumb & rude when confronted with them. There was one lady who started petting me, like a was a dog or sumpthin! I hope that someone, somewhere invents a force-field generator soon.
The next time my legs give out on me, I would like to try any/all of the suggestions outlined so far in this thread. I really like the idea of spikes on the wheels. Spartacus!!
I’m the woman who started the thread about wheelchair users, in a sense. Really, it was more about one woman’s experience living as a partial paraplegic from birth.
In any case, I get bumped around at restaurants as well. I think people are just so damned intent on where they’re going that they fail to take notice of what or who is around them. I only get irritated when people fail to apologize because it implies (in my mind) that I’m nothing more than a piece of furniture.
And back to the leaning on the chair thing for one sec: I don’t generally get annoyed with strangers who put their hands on a handlebar or something while we chat - it’s leaning on them while talking to me (or, especially, leaning on them while talking with someone who is in back of me) that annoys me.
I’m a student teacher teaching in a middle school - 7th and 8th grade. Getting around while the kids change classes is an adventure, but I try to mind my speed and turn slow and wide. It’s not fair of me to expect people to be careful but not expect the same of myself. I’ve also had to school a few of my kids on the handlebar etiquette, but it worked out.
You’ll probably laugh at me, but I also apologize to furniture. And twice I’ve apologized to the furniture for apologizing.
And once I leaned down to pet my purse. (I saw it out of the corner of my eye and thought it was one of the cats.)
Monster Garage and Pimp My Ride, are you listening? I’d watch it.
I’m 6’4" and I get elbowed at WalMart, usually by people just a bit more than four feet tall. It is a zoo in there… 
Heh. Do what my friend does- dress in as dramatic a fashion as possible. I can certainly attest that people notice her- there aren’t many 4’4" burgundy-haired goths out there. (She just learned that she is apparently bar talk despite having only set foot in one once.)
Tell me about it. When I was in high school, navigating between classes was like a dangerous game of Frogger. I finally struck a deal with the teachers so I could leave 2 minutes early to avoid getting trampled. I had a strategy and everything - stick to the walls, avoid the doors. The biggest threat is the walking-while-looking-behind breed of person. Chairs cannot side-step. They need a few seconds to pivot and move out of the way if a human missile is heading toward it, and there isn’t enough time in most cases. Sometimes I had just enough time to pivot my back toward the person so at least it would sheild my face from the collision. Then you get to hear them tell you to watch where you’re rolling.
priceless!
possibly a sig-line
Hmm. I’m really not goth material. My hair is faintly burgundyish at the moment, though…
I’ll just show 'em my SO’s business card. The one that says he’s an attorney.
Bah, giant robot exoskeleton, I say. Next time one of those bastards trips over you, you reach out with one enormous piston-driven metallic arm and huck them out the nearest window.
but it was the first thing i thought of upon reading the Thread Title:
at Wally-World, we have those Amigo cart thingies. (motorized carts)
It annoys me to NO END when perfectly able-bodied ‘people’ take them out to shop, for no other reason than they are too fucking lazy to walk.
Kids horsing around is common too on the graveyard shift, but they are usually easy to be told to get off of them. (the drunk and biligerant ones can be a problem though)
Oh, man, is it time for this one again already? I’ll just start off with sometimes people have problems you can’t see.
I’m assuming you’re not from Britain. Over here most people apologise, even if it’s not their fault! I do it myself. You’ve just stepped on my foot? Sorry! You bumped into me? Sorry! It’s a bit daft, but makes the place seem more friendlier.