“I Sat There Completely Dumbfounded”: Handicapped Person Astounded By Their Neighbor’s Request

It’s not always easy to love thy neighbor, especially when they’re being irrational or inconsiderate.

Take the redditor u/Lijey_Cat’s story, for instance. She told the online community about a neighbor asking her to move her car so their friend can park closer. The neighbor didn’t seem to care much that the OP was using a wheelchair or that she was paying for a parking spot—two reasons a considerate neighbor wouldn't have asked for such a thing in the first place.

Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and she was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find her thoughts in the text below.

The OP told Bored Panda that the thing that upset her the most was being interrupted while working, and—what made it worse—in such an urgent manner. “I live in a very long apartment unit; by the way they were pounding on my door, I thought something was really wrong and there was an emergency situation or something.

“So I really scooted myself over to the door so I could see what was wrong,” she said, adding that she overexerted herself rushing to the door due to a condition that physically drains her of most of her energy.

The redditor shared that she’s been using her wheelchair for about two months now, mostly full time. When discussing encounters with people in regards to the disability, she pointed out that it’s a hit or miss, really. “Some people will actually go out of their way to be nice and help you, whereas others are super entitled.”

As for her entitled neighbor, the woman revealed that they had just moved into the building in July. “I actually don't know most of my neighbors,” she said. “I'm an introvert and I try to keep the peace, but I've never had an issue with any of them before.”

In the comments under her post, the OP revealed that she has a hidden disability; dysautonomia, to be exact, which is a term that entails different conditions that cause a malfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System. It relates to such functions of the body as blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, and temperature control, among others, and can lead to lightheadedness, fainting, and other issues. According to Dysautonomia International, it affects more than 70 million people worldwide.

This is just one of the many hidden—also referred to as invisible—disabilities out there, which are not immediately apparent to people around those suffering from them. Others include Asthma, Coeliac disease, Diabetes, Dyslexia, Epilepsy, and many more, and affect roughly 96% of disabled Americans, according to Forbes.

Forbes emphasized that in addition to suffering from life-altering symptoms, people with hidden disabilities often have to deal with judgment or discrimination stemming from a lack of understanding. That is because they might underestimate or dismiss a condition when there is no clear indication of one, such as a wheelchair, for example.

In the OP’s case, even a wheelchair indicating a medical condition didn’t make the neighbor think twice about their request, which is why quite a few redditors shamed them in the comments under the post.