My Santa wish list for holiday events and life with ALS
Tips that I wish restaurants would think about — and my meal mates, too
Dear Santa, here’s my special wish list for the holiday season. I’m not asking for toys or special treats, just your help in making my holiday social events blend better with my life with ALS.
Specifically, I’m hoping you can help me when I attend social gatherings, dine in restaurants, and interact with strangers. Of course, I look forward to doing all these in this joyous and merry season. But over the past few years, I’ve become, well, a bit of a Grinch about certain situations.
Top of my list: Table conversations
When I’m dining with friends, someone invariably chooses the moment when I have a mouthful of food to ask me a question. Oh, I’ll admit that before I had ALS, I was an expert at this park-the-food-in-your-cheek juggling act. But now, with my ALS-related swallowing and speaking issues, it’s either eat or talk, one or the other, not both at the same time.
Choking and having someone slap my back are not how I want friends to remember our meal together. I’ve since learned to take minisized bites of food and make speaking clearly my priority. But Santa, it’d be great if you could whisper in their ear to wait until I swallow, then we can talk the night away.
Second on my list: Cutlery
Adeptly using a fork and knife is an accomplishment for me, along with most people living with ALS. But only if the restaurant owner invests in decent tableware. As in, forks with sharp tines or actual points. I don’t have the hand strength to stab food with cheap forks with round ends.
Lately, I’ve noticed some restaurants are adopting the trend of presenting the food with only a fork. I need to cut up my food into those minipieces, so I ask for a knife. What appears is either a dull version of a knife or a heavy, large one, better suited for cutting through a 2-inch steak.
Actually, I’ve become a proponent of finger food and doing away with cutlery altogether. American eating habits seem to be leaning that way anyway. Nowadays, with a smoothie for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch, and pizza for dinner, we can go through many meals sans a fork or knife.
One last request in the dining area
With my plate in front of me, my napkin adjusted, I’m ready to cut the first pieces of food and finally look up — only to see that my dining companions are nearly finished!
What? Have I been transported to another time dimension, or has the pace of eating become faster?
Disregarding my wonderful husband, who could always consume an entire meal in only eight minutes flat (15 minutes tops for Thanksgiving dinner!), our lives and the world we live in have certainly sped up.
Fast talkers, fast movers, and fast eaters. Even the restaurant staff seem to want to move things along and are eager to turn the table.
My final request: Public restrooms
I’m forever grateful for accessible restrooms with the push pad at the entrance, the wide spaces inside big enough for a scooter, and the special toilet stall with grab bars. But please, Santa, have your elves do their magic and figure out a way I can close the stall’s door behind me.
Whether I’m on my mobility scooter or pushing a walker, there’s no way once I’m inside that I can reach out to grab the door to shut it. Either I’ve had to leave it wide open (and fortified my self-esteem) or had to rely on kind strangers to shut it behind me. A nifty push pad inside the stall would be a wonderful invention.
Santa, if you can’t fulfill my wish list, at least know I’ll continue to be proactive when enjoying social occasions over the holidays.
As I wrote in “Sharing my changing tips for dining out with ALS, and my slips as well,” I always do an online search for the restaurant’s website to thoroughly scrutinize photos and check out its menu. Photos of the restaurant’s entrance and interior dining area give me a heads-up to any potential challenges.
Let’s enjoy being with friends and family during the holidays and help each other live well with ALS.
Note: ALS News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of ALS News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to ALS.
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