Dear Editor:
Today I became the invisible woman. No “cloak of invisibility,” no overdose of gamma-beta rays, no movie magic. Just a plain old grocery cart for the disabled at Central Market in Southlake. This is not a letter about the folks at Central Market — they couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful.
This is a letter about the majority of people shopping at the store on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. When did I become invisible? Was it the day I found out that I would have to use, on a temporary basis, this shopping aid? Was it when I no longer saw you eye-to-eye?
People actually reached over me to get to items they wanted. Stepped in front of me at counters. Ignored me as I tried to pass them (as they stood in the middle of an aisle speaking on a cellphone). Looked at me (if they looked at all) like I was an imposition placed in their path.
Folks! When did it become OK to treat the disabled this way? I know our parents taught us not to stare or point at a disabled person ... but did they also teach us to ignore them? When did we become so self-absorbed, self-important and compassionless?
We are all in a hurry. . .. We are all multitasking. ... I am as guilty as anyone. So — to anyone I might have treated as invisible — my humble apologies and my request for forgiveness. To the sweet woman who got me a sample when no one else would let me in line — thank you. And to the many others who stepped over me, in front of me, or never knew I was there — or if they did, thought me unworthy — look down, but not down your noses. Those of us who can’t look you eye-to-eye will look up to you when you treat us with kindness and courtesy.
— Penny Livingstone, Grapevine