The Power of the Wheelchair

I had to abandon my new seedlings and my nascent garden two week ago as we drove south to pick up The DogFather and take him to Washington DC. He had never been, and at 95...well, what are you waiting for?

"You've got to be okay with a wheelchair, Dad," Big Dog discussed the trip with him late last year. "DC's difficult in a car and there's too much walking."

The DogFather does not want to look disabled, but has slowed down considerably so the only way we would be able to do this trip with him was if he agreed to be pushed around everywhere. Big Dog was not asking. This was an ultimatum.

Little did any of us know about The Power of the Wheelchair.

It opens doors, gets you to the head of the line, parts crowds like the Red Sea. You're the first to enter, the first to board, you get a special line for security clearance, priority everything, VIP treatment everywhere...

This is like having our Own Private Moses, I thought.

"Wow. Maybe we can hire you out like this." Big Dog was impressed. "A hundred dollars a day?"

"No way! He's worth double that. After this, it'll be hard for us to go anywhere without your dad in the wheelchair."

Spring in DC!