Young paraplegic pops wheelie for Gen X by Josiah Bruch, Outpost Contributor   I ask myself, "Am I a 'typical' Generation Xer?" I am a "typical" Gen Xer in every way except one. I have the attitude that I know I can do whatever I want, with pure focus. I have long hair. I might even have my body pierced. But there is one thing that takes me beyond the "typical" as a part of Generation X. I am a paraplegic. As a 16-year-old, I lived life on the edge. Although this will never change, pure excitement is pure danger. If there's no chance I might die, there's no fun. Baby Boomers think I'm crazy; I think they're missing out. This attitude resulted in a literally back-breaking crash when I was a junior in high school. But I had fun doing it. If I could race motorcycles again tomorrow, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm not alone in that attitude. Other Gen Xers in wheelchairs also like to live life completely. "I think we do whatever we want," Dan Harper said. "We are starting something new and old people do not like it." Sy doesn't let his wheelchair influence his belief that he can do anything he wants to do. Photo by Art Pines If you couldn't tell, Dan is part of Generation X. What he said is typical of a Gen Xer. However, a paraplegic is not a "typical" Generation Xer. I'm the same on a cognitive level, but in a wheelchair. According to New Mobility magazine, 99 percent of Gen-X is able-bodied. Does this mean I'm bad? No. Does this mean I don't want to do any of the things my peers are doing? No. Is my disability going to stop me? No! Other people in chairs think the same way I do. "We want to go to parties. We want to go to bars," said Joe Arrascada, a quadriplegic Gen Xer who works at University of Nevada Student Services in Reno. "But are 'typical' people going to accept me?" As a Gen-X'er in a wheelchair, the question is of prominent concern. However, Generation X being more open and expressive than any past generation helps to overcome that concern in a hurry. "If people don't accept me, that's their problem," said Arrascada. "But people of today (Generation X), for the most part, are very accepting." Today's generation, Generation X, does seem much more accepting of people in wheelchairs. We "wheelers" have found this through experience. "It doesn't matter Sy and his wheels go off-road whenever possible. Photo by Art Pines whether you're in a wheelchair or not," said Robin Serna, an able-bodied Generation Xer. "You're still the same." In a conversation that he and I had about how other "typical" people treat those of us in wheelchairs, Joe Arrascada described three categories of reaction to him and his wheelchair. "They see me, but they (the 'normal' ones) do one of three things," said Arrascada. "Acknowledge me, glance at me or ignore me." Arrascada said that nine times out of 10, the ones that acknowledge him are of Generation X. He also said that nine times out of 10, when a "normal" (if everyone else is 'normal,' am I abnormal?) person ignores him, they are of an older generation. "It's this generation (X) that realizes a disability doesn't mean you are not able to experience the best that life has to offer," Arrascada said. Wheelchair or not, experiencing the best of life is a personal choice. "Either you're motivated or you're not," said Scott Youngs, project coordinator, Americans With Disabilities Act Nevada, UNR. "It's an individual thing more than a culture thing in Generation X." Like me, Youngs is paraplegic and part of Generation X. He said that we are a generation of semi-slackers, not full-on slackers. "In college, my focus was to get the degree," Youngs said. "Don't worry about the grade." From a wheelchair perspective, the easy path to take might be the slacker path. A wheelchair could act as an excuse not to do anything; an excuse that most of society would accept as valid compared to a "normal" person's excuse. However, it's strictly an individual's choice to achieve or slack-off. One choice may be easy, one choice may be challenging, but as Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed, the value of the struggle will prove that the easy choice may not be the best, happy choice. As a paraplegic "typical" Generation Xer, I am glad to be of the "slacker generation." True slackers show me how NOT to be and help turn me to the challenging path that will lead to happiness and success. There's a chance that I may not succeed, but without that chance how could I grow? copyright 6/1/97 Nevada Outpost http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost   Related sites: Americans Disabilities Act Mobility and Accesiblity Network Latest wheelchair technologies