Monday, September 30, 2013

Moxie Man!!

I am lucky to have my power wheelchair on this trip and so, when it came time to decide to roll or ride, I decided to roll. We'd just had lunch at the mall, who knew that the Cheesecake Factory also manufactured veggie burgers and pasta, and wanted to head across the street to the grocery store. I could either get in the van and ride over or I could just make my own way there and meet up with Joe.

Now, I knew getting there would be daunting. I would have to head through a huge parking lot, travel along the side of the road, for there weren't any side walks, make several turns and cross one very large street. But  I was up for the challenge. The first thing to get over was an enormous speed bump but that done, i was on my way. The parking lot was fine, there was lots of room for other cars to get round me. I was lucking when I got to the slip roads that connected the parking lot to the world of roads. Then, when I got to the main turn onto the road that crossed the big road, traffic was hugely busy. I went into a parking lot on my right trying to see if it had an exit that would allow me access to the crosswalk. It didn't.

I went back and had to dive into traffic. I found that most drivers simply ignored me - and I was really good with that. Some were annoyed with me, one pointing to me indicating that I should be on a sidewalk that didn't exist, I took a hint from the other drivers, and ignored the suggesting. But there was a third group of drivers.

These were mostly youngish men or older women. They were flashing me 'Have At It' grins mostly accompanied by a thumbs up gesture. One darkened window rolled down slowly beside me and I saw a wealthy older woman who called out, "I love a man with moxie!" Moxie!! I haven't heard that word in years. I loved it. I have moxie!! Who the hell needs Macho when you can have Moxie instead? That's the superhero I want to be Moxie Man! As I waited for the light a young fellow on a bike waited along side me and chatted. He told me that he found that intersection intimidating and usually just carried his bike over the grass to the cross walk. "That took guts," he said referring to my ride.

I didn't want to tell him, like I'll tell you, it didn't take guts, it took having no other option. The rest of the way was easy, sidewalks and cut curbs made the end part of the journey easy. I crossed over into the grocery store parking lot and was up on the sidewalk and waiting for Joe in moments.

Joe however had his own set of challenges. He is a man of good sense, except that I happen to be his sense of direction. He got hopelessly lost and ended up having to park, go into a restaurant and have someone give him express directions to get to the store. He had his adventure, I had mine.

Mine was more fun.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't magician Penn Jillette name his daughter "Moxie"? I think I read that someplace.

Louna said...

What you describe sounds like the kind of areas only done for car-drivers. I hate them, they make me feel unsafe. And I walk. It must have been quite scary in a power chair.

MichiganMom said...

Being a person with moxie is my new personal goal!

Anonymous said...

mox·ie [mok-see] noun Slang.
1. vigor; verve; pep.
2. courage and aggressiveness; nerve.
3. skill; know-how.
Origin:
1925–30, Americanism; after Moxie, a trademark (name of a soft drink)

Jayne Wales said...

I have never heard that word before but love it. Wow I know a Moxie man!

Connie said...

Have you ever tasted Moxie, the soft drink? Unless you were raised on in—it's common in Maine, and perhaps other New England states—drinking it takes moxie. I have Maine in my ancestry but I couldn't drink it the one time I tried.

Anonymous said...

For a couple of years, I worked about a mile from home. I can drive, but we only own one car, so usually my husband dropped me off and picked me up. A few times a schedule conflict meant that I had to get home by road with my manual wheelchair. Most of it was ok, but about three blocks was on a two lane rural road with no sidewalks or streetlights, and cars that traveled too fast.
Not so much Moxie, as no other choice.
Sharon

Defying Gravity said...

Who knew The Cheesecake Factory was apreal thing and not just made up for The Big Bang Theory?! We're so unused to product placement that I never thought it might be real. I want to go there now!