Happy Birthday Steph!!!
SJ, that is crazy. Not sure if I would have been rude or polite, but if the chair came, I'd say "he's the one who asked for it, give it to him. I didn't realize mental disabilities required wheelchairs, but who am I to say". It all depends on where I am on the sleep/gate keeper index. When travel is involved, its a tough call. And they wonder why there are so many "bitter cripples" (I really hate that phrase, haven't heard it in awhile. Maybe it's finally passe). If it makes you feel better, I had two good experiences of folks being helpful today while rolling my luggage down to meet my friend. The first was getting up on the crosswalk. The ramp for the curb had too many cracks to push up, and someone asked if I needed a hand, "sure", and he lifted up and placed it down 3' away, and waited for me to catch up to it so it wouldn't tip over, and was on his way. The second was for the last bit of walking. It was uphill (where the rest of the trip was down). Again at the crosswalk ramp. He was kind enough to walk it up the hill to the designated wait zone. Very helpful. Sometimes, ya really do need to trust in the kindness of strangers.