switchFooTexas
09-26-2008, 09:41 PM
It happened together. Not to sound like a girl but thinking about it completely shattered by soul. I went to gamestop today to go preorder fifa 09, and infront of me in a line there was a man, probably in his mid 30s, attempting to buy Half-Life 2 on the PC. At first glance it did not occur to me but this man i later found out was mentally challenged. He walks up to the counter pulls out a $100 bill and puts in the counter and with a very big smile says, "Ring it up friend." The gamestop employee then got the strangest look on his face. In a reluctant tone he had to tell the mentally challenged man about how there is a no returns policy and how half-life 2 is a very demanding game. The gamestop employee did not want to take this man's money and have him stuck with it. The mentally challenged man did not take this lightly and i could tell he was hurt, very badly. I then spoke up from behind and offered to check his PC specs for him. He chipped up right away, and told me what kind of computer he had. I had my laptop in my car and the shopping center there has WiFi so i looked up. Unfortuanately, it did not meet the requirements and i was now faced with telling this man the thing he did not want to hear. It was honestly, the worst thing i've ever had to do ever. I felt like i just tore him down from the inside out and he just thanked, calling me a friend, and walked back to his mother's car, i assume, and they drove off.
This whole experience got me thinking about what it must be like to be mentally challenged. This man could function in society, but he would never have the chance because of his disability. They are forced into their own little world. I have a cousin who was hit by 2 cars and now has the mental capacity of a 10 year old. She really, hasn't changed all that much. But she no longer can talk to her same friends, she forgets everything, and is forced into a "world" that no one knew about. They are really no different then us, they talk to their friends, have fun, have inside jokes, have people they don't like, talk about boys or girls they like. It's so horrible to think that these people are barely different from us but we can't talk in public without feeling weird about it.
Really this is just to get some things out, just a big paragraph of observations and things that make me sad :/
Anyways, yes that was really the hardest thing i think i've ever had to do. I'm now considering changing my major so that i can be an aid to people like the man i met today.
Regards,
Joey
This whole experience got me thinking about what it must be like to be mentally challenged. This man could function in society, but he would never have the chance because of his disability. They are forced into their own little world. I have a cousin who was hit by 2 cars and now has the mental capacity of a 10 year old. She really, hasn't changed all that much. But she no longer can talk to her same friends, she forgets everything, and is forced into a "world" that no one knew about. They are really no different then us, they talk to their friends, have fun, have inside jokes, have people they don't like, talk about boys or girls they like. It's so horrible to think that these people are barely different from us but we can't talk in public without feeling weird about it.
Really this is just to get some things out, just a big paragraph of observations and things that make me sad :/
Anyways, yes that was really the hardest thing i think i've ever had to do. I'm now considering changing my major so that i can be an aid to people like the man i met today.
Regards,
Joey