Monday, September 9, 2013

An Unfair Request

As many of you know, I am blind. Because I am blind, this makes me slightly more dependent on people than I like. For example, I need to depend on people to get rides places because blind people cannot drive. The rides thing is going to be the subject of this post. This post is going to be a bit of a rant, so brace yourself.

I was talking to a good friend of mine about how to handle diaper changes on road trips or on long car rides that take an hour or more. She told me that I should just be patient and wait until the driver wants to pull over because asking to pull over every time I want my diaper changed will get annoying, and the chances of me getting invited to go on trips again will likely be nonexistent. My friend said that family and relatives would get annoyed as well and will not really be too big about stopping all the time because they want to get where they want to go. She also told me that if the driver is the type who wants to drive straight through and not pull over, it is okay to ask to pull over once or twice but not to overdo it.

So basically, I am being asked to patiently sit in a wet or messy diaper all for the sake of being polite.

I told her this was so unfair. She said that she understood where I was coming from, but she also proceeded to tell me that babies sit in their diapers all the time until someone can change them, and that is a fact of life for people who have to wear diapers. Then she ended it by saying that it would not kill me to sit in a dirty diaper for up to an hour.

I am not a baby, though. And I think it is wrong to make anyone sit in their diapers just for the sake of convenience or politeness. It is so easy for people who do not wear diapers to say that is what babies and incontinent people should do. I so bet that if they had to wear a diaper, they would not be singing the same tune. They'd beg to have it changed.

I understand not changing a wet diaper right away. They are designed to hold a lot. But as for a soiled one, it should not wait if it does not have to wait. I think it is wrong to expect someone to sit in a dirty diaper when they have the power to pull over the car but are just being lazy. It is so selfish to expect this of babies and incontinent people. How would they like to sit in it?

You would think I would be able to sit in it without any trouble. After all, I have worn diapers for many years. You think I would be used to that by now. But I am not. And sure, I can sit in it if I really have to, but why would I *want* to?

What do you guys think? I am interested to hear your take on this matter. You can state your opinion either way. If you are on the side of my friend, please state why you support this view. Also, explain your reason for supporting my view if you support my view. I look forward to your comments.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Pretty much every medical professional would agree that a pooped diapers needs to be changed very quickly to avoid skin and germ problems. I wouldn't push my luck more than 15 minutes. I kind of doubt in practice they will make you wait an hour just due to the smell. Eat something spicy that morning and I'm pretty sure they will let you change quickly.

Matthew Smith said...

I know this is an old post, but people don't let babies sit in wet diapers for hours. They change them quickly. I remember when my older cousin and then my sister had babies; if they needed a change, other things had to wait. If we were going out, they got their change first.