There is a secret you were never told. It affects
your daily life, yet you have no idea about it.
A lot of the food you eat is disabled.
How does that make you feel? Does your food taste
any worse? Are you going to stop eating?
No, because regardless of its shape or size, the
food still tastes the same to you.
In the French toast community, we are aware that at
any moment we may be changed permanently with one misstep of a fork. Despite
this loss of our perfect shape, we remain secure in the knowledge that we will
still be enjoyed by some hungry person. So, if our change in shape does not
matter to the consumer, why would we care? As long as we accomplish the purpose
we were born to do, we are perfectly okay.
However in the human world, someone having a
disability is a big deal because society makes them feel as if they can no
longer accomplish anything just because of their circumstances. An easy
counterexample to this is Stephen Hawking; he is one of the greatest minds of
our time even though he has lived with ALS for the majority of his life. This
is not to say that all disabled people can accomplish as much as Stephen
Hawking, but they still need to be told that they can. If we start treating
disability as “normal,” then the disabled will not feel burdened and they will
be able to live their life to the fullest. They still have the same talents and
they should still have the same opportunity to contribute to society.
Great post Shankar. I really like how you simplified the problem to the french toast example to show how flawed our thinking is. I also like when you talked about how all people should be able to live freely and contribute to the world rather than being looked down upon for their disability.
ReplyDeleteNice post Shankar!
ReplyDeleteI never realized most of my food is disabled! I never even tasted a difference! I fully agree, no matter what shape and size, all french toast will be wonderfully delicious to me. Great example in referencing Stephen Hawking. In order to change our society, we need to integrate people of all kind into our normal daily lives.
Hey Shankar! I loved the way you wrote this post, introducing the subject with the analogy to french toast. The first couple sentences really satirize the situation, pointing out how ridiculous it is that society denounces the abilities of the disabled. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the unique approach you took with how we disable food. I have never thought of it like that. You drew a very interesting parallel with the food and people. Also, Stephen Hawking was a great example. Well done!
ReplyDeleteNice post! I really like how you pointed out the hypocrisy of accepting of food as is, but alienating members of our own species because of disabilities.
ReplyDelete