DMMT Chapters 4-7

Most of the time when I read the pages from this book I feel like i am reading my own thoughts that someone else has taken the time time to write down. It's weird. The part about "Think of how frustrating it is when one of these conventions is broken (whenmagazines don’t put page numbers on advertising pages, for instance)" made me think about the Isthmus magazine and how hard that is to get around by pages. Most of the time the numbers are just too small to read and I don't feel like going to find some glasses because I'm sitting on the potty reading the article. That is really irritating that they can't use a larger font.

In Chapter 6 they talked about going to Sears and looking for a piece of equipment. When I go to stores most of the time I don't mind not being able to find what I'm looking for right away. Since I rarely have money to buy something I need going to a store is like an outing. Wandering around the stores gives me an opportunity to look at stuff and touch stuff that I usually don't give myself because I don't want temp myself with stuff I can't afford and so therefore don't need. If I have a little money to buy something I have fun imagining buying other stuff or imagining what kind of person it is that does buy that stuff.

However, if I'm helping my disabled sister buy stuff, and this happens fairly often, I do get irritated if we can't find what we're looking for quickly. When I'm shopping with her all of the focus is on her needs and getting them fulfilled. She has only so much energy to use for shopping and it needs to be put to good use. If she gets what she wants then there might be some time left over for me to wander, but usually not. She uses crutches with arm braces rather than a chair and so can't cover great distances or afford to have to go back and redo the trip. In this case, we always engage a store clerk. (It's weird, though, the clerks tend to give her more help when she's using the crutches as opposed to a wheelchair. almost as if with the chair she's not really actively there in their minds. I wonder if they see her as lazy because she's in the chair and I'm pushing it. They usually talk to me because I'm at eye level and I think it makes them uncomfortable to have to look down to talk to Julie. I'll bet this is why she hates using the chair and insists on the crutches. She gets more help and more respect. People see the pain in her expression and run to move stuff and find chairs for her to sit down. She generally gets much better service with the crutches.)