• Call – Don’t Dis Me, Theme of the Month
• Response – Musings on Nobody’s Perfect, Anecdotes by M
• By – Mimi Peterson

My Musings on Nobody's Perfect with Anecdotes by B, C, J, L, M,
Like butterflies, words escaped the cocoon of the story teller's memory,
Like fairy tales, transformed and captured under my pen.                    mp

Meet M – Growing up in a family with three brothers, all went to the same religious school. Teacher identified M as their sister, declaring “From now on, you will be called Mc4. First names don’t matter, let the family name linger, future teachers be warned.” So recorded, with no expiration, until M graduated to public high.

Bear in mind the obvious objection, designed by narrow thinkers. Give a number, add a member to the carefully coded system, indelible link in a chain. Take away the name, reduce the architecture of the family, alter authentic legacy. As realms of imagination widened, M became a student of her environment.

M’s world full of discovery, sounds, surface, technology. Opposites to compare, sequences of black and white, X-ray overlays, anguish to analyze. M, as imaging technician works the cameras, dims the lights. As choreographer, calls contra commands, step, hold, lead, lean, relax.

A concept which seems fashionable, interprets hospital corporate policy, keep the patients dancing on tight schedule. When patients mobility is limited, picture taking prolonged, unable to match the directives, performers stall time. Photo shoot turns anxious, lines of waiting people, M calls for time-out, “You rest, I’ll leave. When I return, Let’s start fresh.” Tense feelings, tripped words, pause the unscripted frustrations for persons with disabilities.

Mixing tech vocabulary with M’s own idiom, “Take a time-in, Wait, See how the X-manifesto fits the diagnosis.” Self-identity in slow motion needs a catalyst to make blood flow. After images transform monochrome grays to complementary colors, negative to positive, cold to hot. Color fuels the senses. Fast follow algorithms, digital reverts to ancient art of origami, simple folds grow dimensional, hands, hold, heal. In playful provocation, think of disabled as delbasid, words in reverse, good as doog.

M has observed, when we talk to a blind person we do not look them in the eye. Instead, it’s face-to-face with the companion. By ignoring the disabled, we discredit the caregiver and vice versa. Social undermining means to “Dis”, casting doubt on trust. Each copes with a sense of helplessness, feelings of abuse and being abused by those they love. Angry actions shame the good.

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Please use your personal experience, forensic instinct, and critical skills to fill in the gaps regarding these abstracted anecdotes of fleeting moments, recited to me by M, a past member of our Racine health care community.

OBSERVATION #12 is coming 10.27.24, Color Feel, Theme of the Month