Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Many people tend to be uninterested by the topic of disability. Often, those who aren't affected by a disability or aren't close to anyone affected by it, can't find any interest for a topic that doesn't matter in their life at all. But what many people don't think about is that becoming disabled could happen to anyone at any time. I remember once a conversation with my dad when we were talking about social security. He was telling me what I should do to make sure I would be eligible to collect social security as soon as possible, such as working for a certain period of time, ect. I was not too interested in the topic, as it had never really crossed my mind, so I asked my dad why I should even care.

My dad then told me the story of my Uncle Ted.

When my Uncle Ted was a teenager, he was just like any other kid his age. He had a job, loved music, and occasionally got into trouble. He, like many other teenage, never gave his good health and youth a second thought. Unfortunately, when he was 19, his liver failed on him and nearly killed him. Luckily, the doctors were able to save him, but he would be unable to work or do any sort of strenuous activity. He was able to get social security, but I took away from the conversation was that I shouldn't take my good health for granted. As Nancy Mairs said in her passage about disability, "ours is the only minority that you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time" (Mairs 15).