I am an "Important Person!"

We husbands say stupid things all the time. It is part of our job description.

When Woman #1 is mad, you say nothing. Husbands know that. Total no-brainer.

Yesterday I slipped.

Eric's varsity baseball team had a game in Tualatin at Horizon Christian. We thought our favorite third string catcher might get to catch, but instead a junior was pulled in from the outfield for the catching duties.

Jodie likes to position her powerchair as close as she can to home plate.

Horizon has a beautiful baseball field. When we first got there we saw the team folding up the tarp that covered the whole field. Dugouts were nicely built with cinder block. There was a low cable fence separating the field from the parking lot. From the backstop to the outfield fence, it was a beautiful field.

Behind the backstop, the ground was rock and hilly. There was a eight inch curb. The only curb cut was blocked by shrubs at the top. There was no way for Jodie to get up to the spectator area.

Jodie was upset. She could not believe the lack of accessibility to get up to the field.


We parked in the lot down by third base. We could see everything from there except the most important part of the field - home plate.

I told Jodie, "This is terrible that there is no accessible way to the field. If there was an important person on the board or at the school that needed access, there would be access."

Jodie shot back "I am an important person!"

Ouch! I said the wrong thing!

A big fault of mine is that I can see many sides of things. Accessibility is spendy, and how many disabled come to watch baseball games?

Jodie totally did not share my sentiment.

I moved our van over behind the backstop, as close as we could get, which was not very close. We could see parts of the batter, depending on which way the crowd was moving.

Jodie was not happy not being able to see much of the game, but people watching is always priceless.

There was a couple dogs at the field. A lady brought her dog behind the crowd. The dog did his duty #2. The lady covered it with the bark that was covering the ground. She used her toe to lightly cover it. The lady looked up and saw Jodie and I watching her. She shrugged and giggled with a 'oops' look on her face.

We then watched a multitude of people walk over that spot and tried to guess who got the surprise on their shoe.

We lost the game to Horizon 5 to 3. Portland Christian's first loss of the season.

I don't think it's possible for a non-disabled person to understand a barrier of an eight inch curb. Until you are in a wheelchair and you can't get somewhere you really want to get, you won't understand.

Us "important people" understand.