The Things People Say

Over the last 7 years of my Segway use out in public, many comments have been made concerning the device. A few make me somewhat upset while the majority are nice and a few even make me laugh inside.

One of my pet peeves, which just recently happened is when someone refers to my Segway as a 'toy'. Once while leaving Sam's Club in Lexington, a father and daughter were behind me when I heard the daughter say 'Look daddy, what is that thing he's riding?' The father replied 'Oh, that's just a toy for rich boys'.
In Fayette Mall an older man commented 'Man that sure is a neat toy you've got there' to which I instinctively replied, 'To me it's not a toy'.
The first time I was in a store and was slowly gliding along when a family saw me and were making some comments to each other when the father said rather loudly, while looking at me 'Now that's ridiculous'. I thought 'Yep, having MS is ridiculous, you ought to try it sometime'.
As Wanda and I were entering the booth area at a recent festival, I overheard one of the workers in a food booth say 'Hey look, I wonder if he's really handicapped?' I wanted to reply something to the effect of 'Hey, why don't you come over here and ride this thing while I go over to your booth and make stupid comments'.

Most though are very nice. I get asked a lot 'How in the world do you balance that thing?' or, 'I've seen those things on TV but this is the first one I've seen in person'. I also get asked how 'fast will it go?', 'How much does it cost?' and 'Where can I get one of those'. After talking to me for a few minutes several people have said something like 'I sure am glad you've got that thing'. I can tell that they mean it too. Makes me feel real warm inside.
It's not uncommon at all for me to be in a store with the Segway and someone will come up to me and ask 'Do you work here?' I have received many offers to help me load it when I'm getting ready to get it in my vehicle. Makes me see the good side of people.

The funniest thing that someone said was when Wanda and I were at the Brass Band Festival in Danville, Ky and were in a line to get some lemonade from one of the vendors, when a young boy (7th or 8th grade) was right in front of me and turned around and was eyeing the Segway rather closely , saying things like 'Neat, or 'Cool'. I told him that I use it because I'm handicapped, to which he replied, 'Boy, I sure can't wait 'till I get handicapped'.

But the most common reaction I get when a person sees me on the machine is to smile, again giving me a warm feeling inside. And I do get a lot of smiles.