"You leave your dignity at the door". Anyone who's had a spinal cord injury or dramatic accident will recognise this phrase from their time in hospital. With the bowel and bladder complications that follow injury, dignity is impossible to maintain, despite the extraordinary care shown by nurses.
After such a hospital experience, some of the irritation that occurs once you're in a wheelchair is a lot easier to bear. Well, I think so anyway. My transfers from car to wheelchair are not skilled and inevitably my trousers tend to fall below (well below) my waist. Thankfully, I find it easy to ask complete strangers to pull them back up. All are willing though it can lead to some strange encounters: "Oh, I thought you were joking" is one of my favourites. But the best has to be yesterday's: "Ah, I've just seen your wedding ring. So you're not trying to pick me up?". People are wondrous.
