People sometimes tell me I’m
a good role model for criplets. But I have a hard time seeing myself as a role
model because I don’t really know what a role model is. There are no standards
or anything.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d like
to go around being a role model. If nothing else, it might be a way to make a
few bucks.
But what qualifications do I
have to call myself a role model? Just because I’m an adult cripple who’s
managed to accomplish a few things in life, big deal. Is that all it takes to
be an official crippled role model? I sure hope not.
And I ‘ve always been
suspicious of cripples who brazenly go around acting like they’re everybody's big-time role
model. You know what I ‘m talking about. It’s those motivational speaker types.
They make me not want to be a role model for sure. To quote the great 20th
Century philosopher Groucho Marx, I refuse to join any club that would have me
as a member.
I’d feel a lot more
confident if there was some kind of state licensing test I had to pass to be
allowed to call myself a role model.The first question would be, “What the
hell makes you think you’re a role model?” I’d be too intimidated to answer
that question so I’d give up taking the test right then and there and I‘d
never get certified. But at least I’d know for sure that I’m not a role model.
I’d also feel more confident
being a role model if role models were required to have malpractice insurance.
One of the things that holds me back from declaring myself a role model is I’m
afraid of being sued. What if some criplet decides he wants to be like me and
finds out the hard way that was a bad idea? It's bound to happen. And there’s
bound to be some ambulance-chasing lawyer out there who will gladly take the
case.
I guess that’s why I resist
being a role model so hard. It’s too
much responsibility.
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