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My adventures riding a scooter at OSCON

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Since almost everyone has asked me to share this story on my blog…

On Friday, after the conference was over, I drove my little scooter to the Subway near the convention center, about 2 blocks away.  On my return, a guy sitting at a Starbucks asks me what happened to my leg, pointing to my leg.  I said, "oh, possible stress fracture, torn shin, and tendonitis in my knee.  At least the MRI showed everything was in good shape with my knee.  9 weeks on crutches, so I need to take it easy."

He says, "you’re not injured.  it’s all in your head."  I’m stunned, trying not to laugh out loud. 

He continues, "I’m a psychologist.  The doctors just want you to believe you are injured.  You need to stop seeing them."  Now i’m laughing hard.  This is just so out there it is hysterical.

"Do you know how degrading you look, to have a good looking woman like you driving around in a scooter?  Do you want to ride a scooter for the rest of your life?"  Ouch.  that one hurt, but at the same time, i’m thinking "who insults an injured person in a scooter?"  So, I said, "okay, i’m leaving now…" still in disbelief and scooter’ed back to OSCON.

Annoyed by the last remark, i couldn’t focus on the trip report, so i decided to go to the Lloyd Center (a mall) 4 blocks away.  Hey, i haven’t been able to go a mall since i got injured (April 30), so I thought it would be the perfect way to unwind from the conference.  And I had a great time (seriously, i bought CDs, a few books, etc, it was fun!) scootering around the mall, degrading or not!    =)

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 01, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 02, 2007
    I personally enjoy seeing a woman riding a scooter, and even more so a motorcycle. So keep riding!

  • Anonymous
    August 09, 2007
    Wow! Psychologists are qualified to tell people if they're injured or not? Did he minor in orthopaedics? Well, at least you didn't follow his advice. Stick on the scooter until you feel better, hopefully soon!

  • Anonymous
    August 09, 2007
    Thanks!  Actually, today is my first day walking under my own power, after 9 weeks of crutches and 3 with a cane.  Hopefully i'll have a great (non Tip of the Day) blog entry for tomorrow!

  • Anonymous
    February 12, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 12, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 30, 2008
    Last year, I “broke” my leg due to stupidity . Stress fracture + sprained IT Band + quad muscle atrophy