uncomfortable

[wifnoe]

Sorry, misunderstood the statement.

Mike
  


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Wayne Renardson 
To: Amputee Information Network 
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 7:12 AM
Subject: Re: uncomfortable


One day Mike asked:

M>  How did and does it make you feel that your wife is uncomfortable 
with the fact you have a stump?  

Hmmm...kinda early in the morning for this but since you asked:  

The conversation I related occurred a number of years back but if I 
recall, my wife did not imply she was uncomfortable with MY stump. If 
she is or was, this is news to me since we have been friends since 
1973 and I suppose this discomfort would have manifested itself one 
way or another by the 1990s, when I asked her opinion of the DryPro I 
was testing. I sought her opinion because (1) I value it and (2) she 
has a keen sense of aesthetics (she is by training and profession an 
art historian) and for anyone interested, I though I would relay her 
thinking on the overall appearance of the DryPro since I took care of 
testing it for function. I did this because I thought it might be 
nice to have something to prevent my stump sock and rig from getting 
soaked in the shower. I frankly found it to be too much trouble for 
showers and have not taken one in ages. Baths are safer:)  

Now I could be deluding myself, but as I related, she grew up with a 
father whose arm was not quite all there....physically yes, but 
functionally useless. He also had one lung as a result of polio and 
his chain-smoking Camels did not let him live beyond 42 years. So if 
she is too uncomfortable around someone with a damaged body part, it 
is a lifelong affliction of which I am blissfully unaware and 
ignorant.    

Now I cannot read the lady's mind but my guess is that she was 
referring not to my stump in particular but to the notion that people 
in general often do not know what to say when confronted with someone 
who has a body part missing. And I happen to agree that in general, 
some people have their comfort zone disturbed when they meet someone 
who is a tad different. The point being that the Drypro was 
aesthetically pleasing to her. At to some folks, that matters. 
Particularly if they plan a trip to the beach.   

M> Does she still ?  

Uhhhhh....the question assumes she was uncomfortable. I don't think 
she ever did feel too uncomfortable. If she did, well, she managed to 
keep it hidden for more years than I care to remember.  

Of course there could be numerous things going on about which I am 
ignorant or choose to ignore. But even plastic fantastic lovers are 
entitled to a zone of privacy.  


Wayne Renardson