Joking Reveal

 While I am not hiding my prosthesis at work, I do make an effort to keep it concealed in professional settings. When I am in schools, I want the focus to be on my students and not on their one legged teacher. Inevitably we are swarmed by curious eyes when my prosthesis is visible. I'm usually very open to these teachable moments, but not at the expense of my student's comfort and instructional time.

Yesterday, when I arrived to work with a student I found him outside at recess. Instead of interrupting play time, I stopped to chat for a few minutes with his one-on-one instructional assistant. This young man reminds me of Robby. He is 22, a little awkward with a really big heart. I enjoy chatting with him because I always leave with the same impression: He is so young and I am so old.

The aide strolled over to me with a look of mischief on his face. My mom-radar was on high as I knew something was coming.  I asked him how he was doing, and he began his rehearsed shtick.  

"Well Miss Peggy, I'm not doing too good."

    Oh no! What's going on?

"Well, I'm not feeling too good. I was mowing the lawn this weekend and I ran over my feet. See my feet?"  

He proceeds to point to his feet, upon which he is wearing skeleton Halloween shoes. He then begins to snicker and asks me if I understand his joke, pointing to his shoes in a cartoon like fashion.

I stood quiet for a moment as I tried to figure out what to do. I quickly realized that I was friendly enough with this young whippersnapper show him how it is done.

"I'm sorry about your feet. Looks like I'm not the only one left without a leg to stand on." 

I pulled up my pant leg, exposing my prosthesis.

This adult kid's jaw hit the playground mulch as he processed what he was seeing. He stammered both apologies and astonishment as we have worked together for almost a year without him realizing. I'm not going to lie, I worked hard on my gait and it feels good to know that my limp is undetectable to most.  I assured him that I was joking and not insulted, and walked away like a boss.