I went for a jog in the city air
I met a woman in a wheelchair
I said I`m sorry to see you`re handicapped.
She says What makes you think a thing like that?
And she looks at me real steady
And she says, You want to drag?
So she starts to roll and I start to run
And she beat the pants off my aching buns
You know going uphill I`d hit my stride
But coming down she`d sail on by!
When I finally caught up with her
She says Not bad for somebody ablebodied.
You know, with adequate care and supervisio
n
You could be taught simple tasks.
So how about something to eat?
I said that`d suit me fine
We`re near a favorite place of mine.
So we mosied on over there
But the only way in was up a flight of stairs.
Gee, I never noticed that, says I.
No p
roblem, the maitre d` replies.
There`s a service elevator around the back.
So we made it upstairs on the elevator
With the garbage, flies, and last week`s potatoes
I said I`d like a table for my friend and me.
He says I`ll try to find one out of the way.
Then he whispers, Uh, is she gonna be sick,
I mean, pee on the floor or throw some kind of fit?
I said No, I don`t think so,
I think she once had polio.
But that was twenty years ago.
You see, the fact of the matter is,
If the truth be told
,
She can`t walk.
So he points to a table, she wheels her chair
Some people look down and others stare
And a mother grabs her little girl
Says Keep away, honey, that woman`s ill.
We felt right welcome.
Then a fella walks up and starts to babble
About the devil and the holy bible
Says Woman, though marked with flesh`s sin,
Pray to Jesus, you`ll walk again!
Then the waiter says What can I get for you?
I said I`ll have your best imported brew.
And he says What about her?
I say Who? He says Her.
Oh, you mean my friend here.
He says Yeah. I say What about her?
Well, what does she want?
Well, why don`t you ask her?
Then he apologizes.
Says he never waited on a cripple before.
We immediately nominated him for Secretary of the Int
erior.
Well, she talked to the manager when we were through
She says There`re some things you could do
To make it easier for folks in wheelchairs.
He says Oh, it`s not necessary.
Handicapped never come here anyway.
Well, I said goodnight to my newfound friend
I said, I`m beginning to understand
A little bit of how it feels
To roll through life on a set of wheels.
She says Don`t feel sorry, don`t feel sad,
I take the good along with the bad
I was arrested once at a protest demo
And the police had to let me go.
See, we were protesting the fact
That public buildings weren`t wheelchair accessible.
Turned out the jail was the same way.
Anyway, I look at it this way--
In fifty years you`ll be in worse shape than I am now.
See, we`re all the sam
e, this human race.
Some of us are called disabled. And the rest--
Well, the rest of you are just temporarily able-bodied.
