he had places to go

today i was riding the bus home from work on the newly paved 37th. way up the road i saw some sort of obstruction taking up the majority of the right lane. as we got closer i could tell that it was a moving object. it was an old man in a motorized wheelchair. he was CURMUDGEONLY. he was all hunched down, VERY old, wrinkled, and scowly (late 80s, i would say), wearing an old man trucker cap (like an actual one that he probably once wore as a real live trucker, not one that he picked up after thinking how good it looked on ashton kutcher), finger on the gas, eyes glaring, taking up the whole side of the road. and the topper: there was a small american flag on a plastic stick affixed to the back of the wheelchair, either something he put there himself because he's proud to be an american, or else perhaps something one of his children attached so that oncoming traffic might notice him and not run him down. the bus had to swerve way around him, but he didn't care. he had places to go, and he was making great time.

you can call me insensitive for bringing this up, but don't you think that handicapped people probably get a real thrill when they get their first motorized wheelchair and can travel way faster than able-bodied walkers? i think that might be kind of fun.