T.V. Debut

I am sure everyone is just dying to know how this whole Dr. Drew thing happened. Well I will tell you the events and I am sure most of you will not believe it because it is such a crazy story!!!

We will begin with Monday of this week, I was doing my regular routine of therapy and home for my massage. When during my massage I got a phone call from an old friend from high school David Miller. Now sorry David but I almost ignored your call because I rarely let phone calls disrupt my massage but I figured I haven't hard from the kid in years there had to be a pretty specific reason for the call. I answered and he told me that a guy who he graduated college with at Miami of Ohio had got ahold of him asking for my number because he worked for the Dr. Drew show in L.A. and they wanted me on. I was very shocked. I told David to give him my number I was completely interested, because anyone who knows me knows that my goal since the accident is to share my story with everyone possible. In hopes to prevent another horrible tragedy from ever happening. 

After I hung up the phone I told my massage therapist all about the call and honestly assumed I would probably not hear from them for a few more days (if ever). Boy was I wrong, I didn't even get the whole story out to my massage therapist, that my phone rang and it was one of the assistant producers from the show ( the one who knows David) asking me to tell him my story and if I would be interested in doing the show. Obviously I said yes, but I was so curious how they found me. Well apparently they are doing the show on road rage and when they searched road rage in the internet my story popped up. They looked me up on Facebook, noticed we had a lot of mutual friends and then he realized it was because we have the same hometown!  Yep ladies and gentlemen we have a Toledo boy in L.A. workin hard! 

Anyways I was totally on board and then they broke the news the taping was THIS Thursday! They would pay for airfare, hotel, and rides to each, so it was a chance I just couldn't pass up. I said yes and decided to skip my classes on those days. Which really was a tough decision because they aren't classes I can just freely skip. But this is a once in a life time opportunity and a chance to get some experience in what I actually want to do with my life (public speaking). So in the end after numerous phone calls, here I am poolside in Burbank, CA with my dad getting ready to meet the producers and do the taping tomorrow. 

Although this is shocking, crazy, and unexpected I know why this happened, it is because this has been god's plan all along and he is showing me that me being patient all these years he made it happen in the most perfect way.

I don't know the air date of my episode still, I will definitely let everyone know as soon as I do. The name of the show is Life Changers with Dr. Drew on the CW at 3:00pm. Thanks for all the support everyone, I never could have made it this far without the love and kind words you all poor onto me in my weakest moments.

Questions!!!!!!!!

So thinking of topics to write about is much harder than I thought it would be, but also I don't want this blog to be a one way street. Aka me just preaching for however many paragraphs, I want it to be a discussion and full filling for all involved, including me. So I have decided that I would like to start dedicating at least one blog a week or month to answer questions that you guys have for me! Any thing at all, I say all subjects are fair game. Like I have and always will say knowledge is power and me being private about my life won't help anybody, especially me. Email me any questions to my gmail account Stevie.beale21@gmail.com, this way the email will go straight to my phone and I will be able to stay on top of this.

Alright guys bring on the questions, I know you all have ones you are dying to ask me and I can tell you I am dying to answer them. I love contributing to someone gaining more knowledge that will allow them to become a more aware citizen. I should also give credit a certain blogger who I enjoy reading his posts for giving me this idea.... You know who you are. :)

I am not an ALIEN!

As a child I was told over and over that it is not polite to stare. Which I assumed everyone was informed of this very important social rule, but since being in this chair I see that I was very wrong. The way that people gawk at me when I enter a room is horrible. Time and time again I go somewhere were an adult is watching me as if I am a gypsy about to steal their wallet or a space alien with a new form of travel. Now I get it, it is not everyday that most people see a young person in a wheelchair. Let alone a small nice wheelchair like mine, so most times I don't mind if a person looks at me discreetly.

So after a recent encounter in the small town of Rudolph, Oh., where they are horrible offenders of watching me as if I am a mutant from the future who is going to force them to brush their teeth. I started thinking about an acceptable way to look at someone because we are all guilty of it. I know I do it too, I even do it to people in wheelchairs too.  But I think there is an acceptable way to look when you see someone who is interesting and a way that is just plain rude.

Now this is purely my opinion and it may not apply to every person in a chair because there are varying levels of sensitivities. For me I don't mind if when I come rolling into a room you look at me, but DO NOT crank your neck to continue watching me wheel farther away from you. A quick look of acknowledgment is totally fine with me. Because an offense that is almost as annoying as the staring is the pretending as if I don't even exist even though it is completely obvious that you have noticed me and want to look.

If I catch you staring at me please don't feel obligated to say something to me. I can't tell you how many times I catch people staring and they shout out a compliment. Like while I was on vacation and I was wheeling down the street and I looked up and this guy staring and he yells "I like your shirt" I mean yes it was a sweet shirt but that is not what he was staring at.

 If you have a question just ask, because my philosophy is I would rather people ask and find out the truth rather than just assume. Granted most people in chairs aren't as open but if you just ask if it is okay to ask them a question that should make it more polite and they may be more open to answering your question.

Okay parents it is your turn, kids are curious beings. Everyone knows this, including disabled people. So when your child is staring or yells out "what's wrong with her?!" Don't scold them (well in the case of staring please inform them that it isn't  polite and if they have a question to ask it). First correct them that there isn't anything "wrong with her" and explain why the person is using a chair and if you don't know suggest asking the person. Yelling at them or dramatically pulling them away is embarrassing for all involved. Plus it is discouraging your child from asking questions and learning. Which we all know knowledge is power. And being open with our children maybe it will help eliminate the shock of seeing a person in a chair because they already know what the wheelchair means. I dream of a day where I don't have to deal with idiots staring at me and making me feel stupid and if we are open with our children maybe future generations won't have to deal with the staring.

Understand that this doesn't apply for everyone, so try to gage the situation and whether the question you have is in an appropriate setting. Because asking me how I go to the bathroom or if I can feel sex is not an appropriate question while I am in the grocery store and you will not like the response I can promise this. Just keep in mind staring is not okay and the reason people in chairs have a bad rap for being cranky is because we are so tired of having people's eyes glued to us everywhere we go and eventually snap.

Vacation.. always too short.

 must say vacations are never long enough and it is always a huge bummer when they end. Not to mention the laundry and cleaning that has to be done once you get home. But nonetheless vacations are always worth it. This vacation was definitely worth it and had perfect timing.

            Now it is time for me to brag about all the awesome things I did and what a blast I had. First I will start with the hotel, it had the absolute perfect location. It was the Tempe Mission Palms in the heart of Tempe. Just a few blocks away from the ASU campus and only steps away from Mill St. The room I was in was one of the best wheelchair accessible rooms I have ever stayed in. Minus the height of the bed, which is always too high. I have never understood why the beds are always so much higher than regular rooms because I can never make that high transfer. Anyways besides that it was a very clean and accessible room that I very much so enjoyed. The staff was extremely friendly, always opening the doors or I noticed after a few days of me staying there they left the doors propped open. Not sure it was to make my life easier or just a coincidence, either way it made me happy. It had free Wifi, basketball court, tennis court, workout room, and pool. I spent most of the first few days lounging by the pool (the relaxation I needed). We found a pretty sweet deal for the rooms on orbitz and when we called the hotel with a question they matched the price, which I thought was pretty cool too. I definitely recommend this hotel.

The entire vacation was packed full of activities. We drove to the top of South Mountain that has a pretty cool view of the entire city of Phoenix. This lookout isn’t really what I would call handicap accessible. The path is gravel and kind of on a down hill slope. But if you have someone to go with it is totally worth it during the day or at night. The group did some extreme go karting, that I couldn’t participate in but they all had fun and I have grown accustom to just watching. I don’t remember the name of the place but it was sweet. After a few days in Phoenix we drove out to San Diego it was a 6-hour drive out there through some pretty mountains and super close to the board, so we had board patrol check points those are fun to watch people getting searched on the side of the road. The hotel there sucked, the room was tiny and not set up conveniently for a wheelchair user. We strolled some boardwalks in San Diego they were all kind of dirty and full of homeless people, so I wasn’t very impressed with San Diego.  Although we had lunch at Hodad’s a burger place it was very yummy and the decorations were cool too. I guess it was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

After lunch it was time for the San Diego Zoo, the one thing I was looking forward to on this trip. I will tell you the zoo did not disappoint. At 40.00 bucks a person I thought it was little steep but after going in I can see why I could have easily spent the whole day there just watching all the amazing animals they had. The zoo was absolutely huge. Plus it was open till 9pm during the summer but I didn’t get to stay the long, although I wanted too. A little secret of the zoo, if you are disabled go to guest services and ask for a free companion ticket and a ticket to line jump. It saved us some money but we didn’t learn about the line jump thing until we were leaving. And having a companion to help with the pushing from time to time is nice, the zoo is very big and SUPER hilly. From there we headed up to Huntington Beach, we stayed at my mom’s friend’s house which was surprisingly accessible. They had a very beautiful home and a pretty sweet pool/hot tub. The next morning they did some surfing, which I watched again. When we made the appointment we didn’t even think to ask if I could, I just assumed I couldn’t, completely forgetting there are tons of paralyzed people who surf. So once I make it out to Hawaii for a vacation I am definitely trying it, because hopefully the ocean water will be warmer there. The surf school was called Banzai Surf School, the instructors were all very nice and they said I could have taken a lesson as well it just would have been a private. After that we just went to Newport Beach and checked out the downtown shops. I fell in love with the area it was so clean, accessible, and beautiful. I really enjoyed California; not sure I could live there with the traffic but definitely visit there more often.

Another 6-hour drive back to Phoenix got back and just crashed at the hotel. Our last day on vacation was spent going to the shooting range, Spinatos, shopping, and tattoos. Spinatos is a pizza joint in Tempe that is amazing; highly suggest it anytime you are out that way. Mmmm I am craving it just thinking about it. My cousin Cade got his first tattoo at Club Tattoo, which made me want another but I am still figuring out what I want. Club Tattoo was a really nice place and Chester Bennington from Linkin Park is part owner, I thought that was pretty neat.

All in all it was a good trip for me. I had loads of fun, I love family time and seeing my cousins that live out West, who I wish I could see more often. And can’t wait for the next vacation, wherever that may be. J

-----links to the cool places websites are on the words.. just click!

Planes.

Flying can be a dreadful experience for just about anyone but there is a small added stress when you are in a chair. Because as most people don't think about the aisle ways in an airplane are too small for any normal everyday wheelchair to fit through. So they have special helpers called aisle chairs, which are the smallest little chairs that make even the tiniest person look like a giant. One of the perks of being in a chair and boarding an airplane is we board first. So at the end of the terminal is usually some young college kids and the aisle chair waiting to transport me on to the plane. Most times the attendants have to call and find an aisle chair first because, even though I requested one when I booked the ticket and checked in, the aisle chair is not there. After waiting I get strapped in and hauled onto the plane. My chair gets stored with the checked luggage and the rest of the plane boards. Now after the flight lands is the part that kind of sucks, I now have to wait for the entire plane to exit before I can get off. So this is a note for you people who take forever to get off the plane MOVE IT because I want off the plane and have to wait for you! Lol. The plane empties and the new young kids come looking for some old lady to take to her chair and pretty much are always shocked to see a young girl waiting for them. They strap me I again and off we go to reunite me with Wanda (my wheelchair's name).

Usually this experience ranges from not so bad to pretty frustrating, but this last trip was a great experience. So I am highly suggesting to fly Southwest if you are in a chair and if possible. They had tags all ready to put on my chair so if for whatever reason it was lost we could identify it as mine. The aisle chair was there and since Southwest doesn't have assigned seating they saved the first three seats for us and it was so open that I didn't have to use the aisle chair to get off the plane, just pulled Wanda right into the cabin and off I went. It was awesome and not even a little bit stressful. Plus everyone was amazingly friendly, you can check up to 2 bags free per passenger, and the plane was very clean. In all the flight here with Southwest was so nice and made is vacation start off the right way. Now I am off to enjoy this hot sun and just relax! 

P.S. You can only book Southwest tickets on their website, they are cheap too.
http://www.southwest.com/