A New Perspective

Leaving for work one morning, I noticed that my newspaper hadn't been delivered yet. Since I always brought it to work, it upset me that I would have to stop at the store and pick one up. I was already running late, but figured I could make it if I hurried. This would really throw a monkey wrench into my morning though and it was putting me in a bad mood.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the store, I noticed a young man ina wheel chair at the far end of the lot who seemed to be struggling. "I'm sure he's all right", I thought, "or if he's not, someone else will stop and help him."

Judging by the customers and cars that were passing him by, I guess they were thinking the same thing. I got out, and walked over to see what the trouble was.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked. It was then that I noticed he wasn't able to speak, and was still struggling with the chair.

"Is there someone I can call for you? I said. He still couldn't give me any indication.

I looked down at the chair and noticed that the clamps holding the electronic keyboard and chair controls had apparently loosened causing the equipment to slip down, out of his reach.

"Is this the problem?" I said, as I pulled it back into place, hoping I wasn't doing more damage than good. I then re-tightened the clamps. His hand jerked over to the keyboard and he hit a single key. An electronic voice told me, "Thank-you." He then found the toggle control that steered the chair, turned and left.

I got back in my car and headed off to work, completely forgetting my newspaper. As I drove, I felt a gratitude come over me like I had never felt before! I was truly blessed to have the physical abilities that allow me to live a normal life.

Here was this young man who relied on a mechanical chair to get him around and a voice simulator to communicate. He probably dreamed about doing all the things that I take for granted every day. I vowed from now on, not to take those things for granted anymore. I would be grateful to God for his blessings that could be gone tomorrow.

It's funny, fifteen minutes before that happened, I was whining because my morning paper hadn't arrived on time. I'm glad I was able to help the young man, but more importantly, he was able to help me gain a new perspective on my priorities in life.

[ John Fern, copyright © 2002 (jpfern@pro-ns.net) -- from '2THEHEART' ]