Temporarily Abled

Haller, B., & Ralph, S. (2001). Current perspectives on advertising images of disability.

In G. Dines & J. Humez, (Ed.), Gender, race, and class in media (pp. 293-301).

Goetsch, D., Venokur, J. (Writers), & Hughes, T. (Director). (1998). Dick on a roll

[Television series episode]. 3rd Rock from the Sun. Los Angeles: National

Broadcasting Company.

October 13, 2007
After reading the article “Current Perspectives on Advertising Images of Disability” and the class discussion of being temporarily abled, I was reminded of the 3rd Rock from the Sun episode titled “Dick on a Roll.” The main messages included people take for granted their physical ability and that they are more motivated to fight for a cause when it directly affects them.
In the episode Dick gets injured and becomes temporarily wheelchair bound. During this time he realizes what an inconvenience it is to use a wheelchair ramp due to its distance from his parking space. He says to his colleagues they will never understand the humiliation he endured unless they directly experienced it. Due to the ramp directly affecting him, Dick urges the college campus to build a new ramp and even gets approval from the building supervisor. He jokes that she couldn’t possibly understand the need for the ramp. The joke is that the building supervisor is permanently wheelchair bound. This puts things in perspective for Dick who realizes the ramp is really unnecessary. When an individual suffers from a permanent problem they are forced to make it work and learn to adapt to their surroundings. When an individual affliction is temporary they are spoiled and yearn for their situation to return to way it was.
The idea of being temporarily abled reminds me of a personal experience when I had to wear an immobilizer boot for six weeks. I had difficulty doing simple things like walking and climbing stairs. It took such getting used to that when I went shopping in the mall I almost fell down the escalator. I shouldn’t have complained because my situation was only six weeks and I could take the boot off if I really couldn’t stand it. After my mother’s knee operation she had to adjust to using crutches and being in a wheelchair. She absolutely hated it and used to say she could never do this forever. She said the recuperation was worse than the operation.
This also reminds me of a project I did for my social psychology class called walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. We had to interact with a group of people where we were in the minority. I went to an Asian market and felt completely out of place, was very quiet, and hesitant to ask questions and interact with others who already had established groups. The goal was to experience first hand what it felt like to be different and in the minority.