Outside Reading Post- armrests

In his book, Moving Violations, John Hockenberry describes his search for a role model. He wanted this role model to be independent and strong, but what he discovered was that his view of strength verses weakness was incorrect. For a long time, Hockenberry was convinced that armrests on a wheelchair were a sign of weakness. He proudly stated, "People often ask why I don't use armrests. I have only one answer... armrests are for the Tiny Tim, cup-in-hand, poster boy, "Jerry Lewis Telethon" crips" (136). To Hockenberry, the absence of armrests were is declaration of independence from helplessness and weakness. Without his armrests, he felt more capable and would down on those he thought were his role models because they had armrests. "'Hey, Hawking! When you gonna lose those pansy-assed armrests?"' (139). "Because he has armrests, he's a wimp" (140). He says this of two successful people who have been confined to wheelchairs. He doesn't realize that one can still be substantial while submiting somewhat to their disabilities. He spends a lot of time thinking that he is somewhat above all other "crips" until he goes to a Vietnam War memorial and talks with some of the veterans. The ones he talked to were all in wheelchairs and he had a great respect for them and felt below them. While he was with them, he observed, "What I noticed when I looked at his chair was the armrests. They all had armrests except me" (144). Hockenberry finally realized that whether or not you had armrests had nothing to do with your strength of will or character. When he saw those veterans' wheelchairs, Hockenberry came to see that his incessant fight against dependency was only hurting him.