A Cripple's View of the Paralympics
I am a cripple from an extended family of cripples. Be it a visible apparatus such as crutch or wheelchair to the less obvious ones of medication or therapy, many of us are dependent upon something or someone to make it through the day.
Some, such as my Uncle David, who contracted polio at an early age, have been successful. Others, such as my Great Uncle Robert, who committed suicide well before I was born, have not been.
I think my often exposure to the handicaps of family members, along with some sort of understanding of my own, has helped me to "see" people more for what is inside of them instead of what might be disabling them. I don't shy away from people with mental or physical disabilities, nor do I go into the mantra of "there by the grace of God go I," which, actually, I find to be truly repugnant.
When I watched the athletes at the Paralympic Games come onto the field, the first thing that struck me was how much older they seemed that those competing in the Olympics. That is, at least for those without totally debilitating afflictions, these were men and women who were mothers and fathers, who had families to support and jobs they were taking time away from. These weren't young adults whose primary focus in life was to win gold medals.
In places such as Menlo Park, people with disabilities mix more or less equally with those without. Somebody walking around the campus in a wheelchair or on crutches isn't an uncommon sight. Nor, for that matter, is it uncommon to see someone navigating around the city with the aide of a cane or dog.
People with even severe mental disabilities have gone in most part from being at institutions (such as Agnews, where Sun's Santa Clara Campus is built) to being mainstreamed... that is, being part of the mainstream society as much as possible. An example of this would be to work at a regular job, but then return to a group home at night.
From what I've seen so far in Beijing, things are not the same. Up until the Paralympic games, the only physically disabled people I've seen (other than the elderly in wheelchairs) have been beggars. I've also been told that the view of the mentally disabled is no where near that we have in the West... not that the bar is being set too high there, either.
With that overly long and rambling prologue in mind, take a look at this picture:
Here is an absolutely beaming athlete that just won his event, and got a Paralympic record at the same time, who just happens not to have any hands. And, of course, what you cannot see or hear from the picture is how loudly the crowd was reacting... it was the same as I heard from Chinese athletes when I attended Taekwondo at the Olympics.
Another point to make is that when there were empty seats, the government ensured that they were filled with students. They would come in by the busloads dressed in their matching gym outfits. And, amidst their jostling, playing, and banging the back of my damn seat, they were cheering just as hard as everyone else.
Click here for more pictures of cycling.
