I waited alone in the eye doctor’s treatment room. There was
an eye chart on a lit-up screen. I figured that the when the eye doctor arrived,
she would use that chart to test my vision so I pulled up close enough to it to
see all the lines. And then I tried to memorize all the lines, especially the
tiny lines at the bottom that I couldn’t read from across the room. That way,
when the doctor tested my vision, I’d outsmart her and ace the test!
Pretty stupid, eh? I mean, what’s the point of seeing the doctor
if you’re going to pretend like there’s nothing wrong?
But I couldn’t help myself. When I see an opportunity to
beat the system, it’s hard for me to resist, even if doing so means shooting
myself in the foot. It’s reflex. It’s a cripple thing.
It’s a cripple survival mechanism. If you’re going to live a
decent life as a cripple and you’re not rich,
you’re on the lookout constantly for ways to beat the system . Because
if you’re a cripple trying to live a decent life and you’re not rich, a lot of
systems are rigged against you.
Take, for example, Medicaid. If you’re a cripple trying to
live a decent life and you’re not rich, you often can't get a lot of important stuff
you need (like healthcare and wheelchairs and people to come to your home and
help you get in and out of bed) unless you’re on Medicaid. But in order to be
on Medicaid you have to be really really broke ass. So you’re always trying to
hustle up ways to get paid under the table and shit like that.
The eye doctor entered. She flipped a switch and the eye
chart on the lit-up screen was replaced by another chart with different letters
in a different sequence. It’s a good thing she saved me from myself.
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