To be fair, I noticed his stump before I noticed Jean-Pierre. I was wandering the community center, armed with a soapy dishrag as usual, swiping at the crumbs on tables. I realized that the man across from me really was missing an arm, and I actively/quickly tried to pretend that it was normal
We tend to act strangely around people when they’re different from most of us, when they’re in the minority. That’s partly why we avert our eyes around the homeless. That’s partly why we have to strain to act normal when someone is missing a limb or a facial feature, or has been in some way disfigured, or has a mental disease, etc. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be homeless/in deep poverty, and visibly disabled.
We see panhandlers sometimes who deliberately show a disability in order to elicit sympathy and change. But my guess is that most who are physically ‘different’ are more like JP—not hiding their disability—still hurt by offhand stares and comments, but dealing with them day by day. The homeless disabled have a double-whammy otherness, but in some cases, it helps them (functioning kind of like a double-negative, where the disability qualifies their homelessness and thus it feels right to help them), rather than hurt them doubly-much.
I just hope that overall we can empathize with others, no matter their degree of other-ness.
Chao,
Isabella – 6/25/17