Disabilities

I was on a bus today, I chose to sat in the seat labelled ''please offer this seat if a disabled person needs it'' Bearing in mind there 4 other seats labelled this all free a older lady behind me started saying ''that lady shouldn't sit there'' and so on about how I must be a terrible teenager, like all teens.

Firstly I would like to comment how it said ''please offer'', therefore I have every right to use it. If a disabled person had got on and the 4 other seats were full I would have offered. This does not mean I cannot sit there when there is no one needing them.

Secondly, I used to be a competitive gymnast. High level. Then when I was 10 I suffered a back injury that seized up my lower back, leaving me with very limited movement down there and pain in my upper back which has to compensate. I still do recreational gymnastics to attempt to increase my movement in my lower back as well as trampolining and martial arts (All low level at the moment). All sports which increase strength and flexibility which I need. I do not walk with a hunch or a crutch. However daily I get extricating back pains which, despite their slow improvement, still require me to take strong painkillers for. Its not a recognized disability by the government because I try my hardest to get on with life. So when I sit on the first seat on a bus I see, its because of this.

A disability is not always obvious to the eye and with this lady judging me because I am a teenager and because I am younger and therefore ''must be healthier'' I felt like shit. People like her may feel to themselves they are in the right and showing justice but they aren't they do not know my life and for her to judge me this way is a horrible thing to do. If someone got on the bus who was worse than me I would get up, I know how it feels to not be able to sit when you really need to. People like them who blame all teenagers for being the same terrible people, assuming all of us are healthy, are the real issue with the world.

I don't always get this riled up, but sometimes the world is just too fucking naive.