On Friday 06 July 2001  5:29 pm, Linda Wagner wrote:
> I think you are right Gary.  I mean I am a teacher, and a pretty
> good one, if I do say so myself...but growing up, my own mother did
> everything to get me to change my mind about a career in education.
>  But, she also raised me to be head strong and independent so I
> became a teacher anyway ;)  Many people who don't know me well are
> surprised that I teach, but those who do know me know I could do
> nothing else!  In fact, I don't think I could survive a job where I
> sat all day...Nonetheless, I think that all people, disabled or
> not, run into people who are skeptical about their career choices
> and question their ability to "make it".  We tend to see it more
> maybe, or perhaps take it more personally because we need to prove
> to ourselves that we can do what we want to do with our lives and
> aren't going to let CP stand in the way.
>
> Linda

I successfully proved to myself I wouldn't make the worlds best bingo
caller!!

Back in my late teens I used to volunteer every fortnight at a local
Mental Hospital for a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon,
talking or walking with the residents. Usually there were about 10 of
us "regulars" (the other 9 being all 17yr old females from the local
convent school  One day the convent Mini Bus didn't turn up, so I
found myself as the sole volunteer.

The sister on duty was not well pleased, since the staff had become
used to this 2 hour "coffee break" while the volunteers looked after
their clients. She had a brain wave. "We'll put all the residents in
the Hall and you can organise a Bingo Session".

I must admit I was a little dubious about the wisdom of this
endeavour, but the confidence of youth, and the insistence of a
Sister seeing the resurrection of her coffee break on the near
horizon, found me, in short order, seated at a table, on the stage,
with a velvet bag of 90 ceramic balls with numbers on and and a board
with little indentations on.

Now, it wasn't the cerebral aspects of the game which worried me, I
reckoned I could cope with that, it was a dim recollection that the
"best" traditions of bingo calling required aphorisms to spice up the
action a bit, you know:-

        "2 and 1 twenty-one (key of the door)"

I seemed to remember that certain special numbers required a bit of
audience participation:-

        "8 and 8 eighty-eight (two fat ladies) (wibble-wobble)

I was pleased the first ball was one of these "specials" to break the
ice:-

        "2 and 2 twenty-two (Two little ducks)"

A long pause then someone said "Quack, quack", and I noticed several
people scribbling furiously. I felt it was going well..

I must admit to a certain foreboding when the 3rd, 4th and 6th balls
also elicited loud "quack, quacks" from one person, and it did seem
the very same people were marking their cards for every number I
called.

When the bag was about half empty I started expecting a call of
"House". It was only when I placed the last ball on its indentation
that I realised my calling was not going to be a bingo caller.

Cheers

Deri