terajk

In our town, there's a bus for elderly and disabled people that picks you up at your house. Yesterday I took the bus to the movie theater to see Madagascar 3. (When I called to set everything up, the guy I was talking to...forgot who the bus was for? Because he was all,"How old are you?" and "This bus is only for the elderly.") I think I'm mostly in this series for the penguins and the lemurs. While I love the spin-off cartoon where the penguins are the main characters, I also love their dynamic in the movies, where they bust out of nowhere with a FUCKING COOL CAR and save the day.

Speaking of, back when I was like, "It annoys me how in a couple things I saw, paranoia was associated with the villain" I can't believe I FORGOT ABOUT SKIPPER. Okay, so he is more of an anti-hero (and also, a penguin) but still. Saved the day in a FUCKING COOL CAR.

And now I would like a fannish thing where Marty and Julien hang out/have an argument/come up with a (Master) Plan, etc, based solely on the fact that the "Afro Circus/I Like to Move It" mashup exists. (Sadly, I can't find the actual scene):



(Lyrics here.)

(When the trailers started, there was sound, but no picture. And I had no idea where I should go to tell somebody. Did I have to find the projectionist? Do I just tell someone taking tickets? WHERE DO I GO? I finally just went back out into the lobby, and this lady had already found someone in the lobby, who said they were working on it. So know I know what to do if/when such a snafu happens again.)

I AM SUCH AN ADULT. (I was wearing a Pikachu shirt, by the way.)

It's really hard for me to ask for directions--partly because I don't understand spatial language very well, but mostly because, when I was little, adults shamed me out of it. "You're too old for this"¹ the teachers on recess duty would say when I asked them for help finding a friend on the playground. (My friends, BTW, were actually very observant, clever and helpful: they figured out how to wait for me outside our classroom if we were going to lunch or recess.)

A poor sense of direction runs in my family. (With their powers combined, I am Captain Planet.) I've seen people ask for directions: a lot. My mother has asked for directions at one gas station, then asked for them again at the next gas station. So my feelings are irrational. But they're there.

The other day I had to ask for directions to the juvenile graphic novel section in the library. (I saw the movie The Adventures of Tintin; I've never read the books before.) This was extra hard, as I was looking for something associated with children, but I did it. And the librarian was very nice and took me to the place--I think I can find it myself now! Which is a good thing because, Internet, CARDCAPTOR SAKURA WAS THERE. (I didn't even know we had Cardcaptor Sakura.).

1. In Mental Retardation: A Historical Reader (a book at my library about disability whose editors didn't annoy me), there's a short paper from the early 20th century wondering how to categorize "feebleminded children." The writer decides that, since typical children are compared to other kids their age, it would be most helpful to compare "feelbleminded children" to younger typical kids. In other words, the concept of "mental age" (e.g. the idea that an 18 year old has "the mind of a seven year old") is arbitrary as hell.

 Or, what happens when I go out without handlers am disabled in public:


There is snow where a sidewalk should be, and I think.

"Hey!" says a woman. "Hey!" Is she talking to me? I don't know; I'm still trying to find the sidewalk.

She's gotten out of her car, trudges up the hill. "Do you need me to take you home?" 

Because I'm feeling charitable, I assume she means to my house. "No, thanks," I say.

"Are you sure? You looked like you were going to fall over."

"I'm fine." I have never seen this woman before in my life.

Strangers of all genders pull over and offer me rides; they ask me if I'm okay, if I'm sick, and once a man at a restaurant made me sit down at an outdoor table and brought me a glass of water. Most of this stuff happens when I am not, technically, lost. Some visual detail has changed--a car parked on my route, a bit of sidewalk covered with snow--and I'm thinking about how to get around it. It also takes me a while to find doors.

I'm sure these are all very nice people (unless they're not), but...I watch a lot of true crime shows, OK? I am not getting into your GODDAMN CAR WITH YOU. /PSA