HOW HARD COULD IT BE?
by Krissy C.
Fashion designer, Sarah Eve Jakub, crossed the street holding some freshly made sketches with her head held high thinking, “These sketches I drew are phenomenal! I have to be the best designer in Texas!”
Sarah ignored the poor old lady who had trouble carrying her groceries, for she was too busy thinking about how good she was. I mean, it’s not that she is mean or anything; it’s just that she puts herself first, in other words, is very self-centered and conceited.
About a week later, Sarah ran to her morning meeting with her company’s other fashion designers. One of the designers walked late into the meeting holding a folded letter in her hand. The designer had a smile on her face. You see, the company was looking for a change in the clothing they made and by the expression on that designer’s face, it looked like they’d found one. The letter read:
Dear Fashion Designers,
I have a suggestion to make. I am in a wheelchair and I have trouble putting on
clothes. I really like
shopping but not when I can’t find clothes that can slide
on easily. I was thinking maybe
you could be the company that would change that.
Sincerely,
Megan (age 9, Texas)
As soon as Sarah heard that letter, she rolled her eyes and shouted out, “Why should we spend our precious time creating clothes for them? We should be making things for us!”
And just as she said that, she ripped the letter and threw it across the room. Everyone liked Megan’s idea except for Sarah, who wanted every- thing to be for herself.
On Sarah’s way out, she thought, “How hard could it be to be handicapped?”
* *
*
The next day, Sarah experienced something she never thought she would. When Sarah was backstage at a fashion show checking to make sure her models had all of the right outfits, she tripped on a hanger lying on the floor. Then, a tall model stepped on Sarah’s leg (it was an accident, of course)! Sarah ended up in a full-length leg cast! Her leg was fractured. She had to be in a wheelchair for a long, long time.
* *
*
Sarah wheeled herself into the mall about two days after her accident. Sarah visited her favorite store, Nordstrom. Sarah found this really awesome pair of jeans that she adored.
She headed toward the dressing rooms. As she tried to enter the doorway of the fitting room, she got stuck! She couldn’t fit into the doorway. It wasn’t wide enough! She glanced to the opposite side of the room and saw a wider door. It was labeled with a wheelchair. She was relieved that she was able to fit through the door.
Sarah went to put on her jeans that she loved, but no matter how hard she tried or no matter what she did, she could not get the jeans over her cast.
Sarah was too busy feeling sorry for herself to realize that other people in the world have problems worse than hers.
When Sarah was in the food court eating her lunch, she got rude comments about her accident, like:
“What’s wrong with you?”
and to add on, everyone was staring at her, except for this one girl who was in a wheelchair like Sarah. Sarah wheeled herself over to the girl and started to chat.
Sarah asked, “How did you get injured?”
“I’m not injured. It’s more like I’m disabled,” the girl responded.
Sarah looked down at the other girl’s legs and realized that she did not have any casts on, just leg braces. Sarah thought that she might have the same problem that Sarah had trying on clothes.
“So, by the way, what’s your name?” Sarah asked eagerly.
“Megan,” the girl responded. “Megan’s my name.”
Sarah was shocked. She thought back in time to when she had ripped up a girl’s letter that said at the bottom of it:
Sincerely,
Megan
(age 9, Texas).
To find out if this girl was the girl from the letter, Sarah decided to ask what state she was from and how old she was.
“So, Megan,” Sarah began. “How old are you?”
“Nine,” Megan replied.
“And what state do you live in?” Sarah asked while looking like her face was going to explode with eagerness.
“Texas,” Megan responded.
“Oh, gosh!” Sarah whispered to herself. “Are you the girl who wrote a request to my company?” Sarah asked.
“What company?”
“The fashion designing company that involves me, Sarah Eve Jakub.”
“Yeah! Wait, you’re Sarah Eve Jakub?”
“Yup!”
“Well, I haven’t seen any store for the disabled out in any mall since I wrote that letter!”
Megan looked upset
“So, did everybody stare at you and make mean comments to you yet? I mean, you know, ‘cause you are in a wheelchair?” Megan questioned Sarah.
“Yeah… how’d you know?”
“Hello! I get treated like that all the time! I’m disabled! Don’t you see? I am in a wheelchair. I have leg braces. I am handicapped. Most people act differently toward me, even my friends. Most people don’t know how bad some people treat us! And it’s all ready hard enough to be handicapped. I can’t find clothes. I miss out in gym in school and a lot more. I guess you never realized that, huh?”
“I never really thought about it. I’m sorry.”
When Sarah wheeled herself toward her office, she thought long and hard about what Megan told her.
As well as thinking about what Megan said, she also thought up ideas for her new clothing line for the disabled, named after Megan.
Six months later, Megan was moving through the mall with tons and tons of bags of clothes from the store named after her.
At the end, Sarah realized even though her accident was difficult, it opened her eyes to what other people deal with.
Krissy is in the fourth grade and loves art, dance and writing.