I have been repeatedly asked why I utilize a Segway.
The Segway has been, for the last 13 months (May 16, 2003 to, as I write this, June 8, 2004), my legs. Let me explain that remark. I am disabled but to see me you would not know that personal bit of information. My disability is not obvious. Actually, it would not, and should not, be anybody's business but only mine and my family. To an extent I resent that I am, just as any other individual that fails to live up to the societal acceptance as "normal".
Disabilities are caused by accidents that happen in a split second of time. Congenital anomalies are also a cause for that deviation from the norm as are hereditary factors. Environmental misuse can cause such as the case in the Love Canal and respiratory problems caused by the abuse of emissions into the atmosphere, i.e., fossil fuels. Bad habits such as smoking are going to take their toll.
I have COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, in part because I was a smoker. It has been many years since I inhaled, of my own accord, cigarette smoke but the time I elected to quit was ill timed - it was too late and the damage was done. I have also been exposed to solvents such as acetone and toluene as a degreaser in an unventilated space more than I should have been. I have made lead soldiers for my children, not to play with but to display. I have also spent many, many years exposed to mercury vapors as a occupational hazard. For that matter, I live in an urban area - with trucks and buses and far too many automobiles - which in itself is going to cause problems.
COPD is an insidious disease that will eventually cause my death - barring an accident. It gets progressively worse as time passes and someday I will probably need to carry an oxygen tank. I cannot walk very far without labored breathing. I can no longer ride my bicycle because the hills are killers to me. Making my bed will cause me to breathe hard. Now that you have the background, I'll turn my attention to matters about the Segway.
The Segway, as I alluded above, is how I get around. Its maneuverability has given me the opportunity to do things and go places I have avoided for years such as the zoo. It allows me to explore in areas that requires extended walking. It allows me to get conveniently from one place to another, doing so inexpensively and without directly depleting the nations oil reserves. No fumes are released into the atmosphere by the machine while I go about my business. As a photographer, it can even act as a mobile tripod and is a far better means of carrying the equipment required to get the job done. It almost helps me make up for the time that I spend using my inhalers twice a day because my errands are run much faster.
If you find a detractor for the use of a Segway, you have accidently bumped into an ill informed individual. Don't worry about telling me that walking is better. The caloric burn rate on these machine are akin to an outing on the bunny hill at your favorite ski resort. I believe that walking at a stroll burns about 250 calories an hour. Most people I see walking arrived at that location by car or public conveyance. That 250 calories an hour are close to what you would burn if you simply stayed home and did housework. For all you know, I might be on my way to the gym. I can ride my Segway to work and not find it necessary to shower when I get there.
The Segway is not a toy, it is a tool. It is, by law, called an EPAMD, an Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device. That tool is one of the greatest things in the world when used for short trips and running errands whether you are able or disabled. The Segway doesn't know the difference. It saves the use of a car, that polluting device parked in your garage. It is my legs, my mobility device so I ask that you please reserve comment until such time as you have all the facts. As a bonus - it is more fun that you can imagine. Can you fall from it, yes. Just the same way you can fall while skating, cycling or anything else with wheels. For that matter you can trip while walking. Have I fallen, no. Why? I'm cautious for the simple reason that I'm the one that is going to get hurt if that occurs. Am I dangerous to others. No, not a bit.
I'm far more courteous than a good percentage of pedestrians; the ones that look one way while walking another, those with cell phones are as bad on foot as they are behind the wheel, those that cut in front of people, stand in the middle of a sidewalk or on a corner to converse and make others walk around them, those people that walk 3, 4, 5 or 6 abreast so no other can pass. Take note of how people angle to the curb cut, designed by law for disabled individuals, because they lack the desire to step up or down a curb. I'm sure you have seen this and other cases of disregard of others. You don't notice these activities until you are forced to bear with them as you travel from place to place. When I see someone that is not paying attention, I stop because it's easy to do. That way no one will be mistaken who is at fault should contact be made, an occurrence which I personally have never experienced.
Count your blessings that you are still able to get about without assistance. If you see me on the street, please keep your negative comments to yourself but if you do have something to say, say it to my face - if you have the nerve.
Robert Jones
PS. The next time you see a kid with a cigarette, please do me a favor and smack him along side of the head. Tell him that you know someone that thinks you are out of your mind for smoking those things.
©
Rada Project, 2004
May 21, 2004 (Version 1.b)