Can You Do This?

That’s the question the thoughtful and dedicated therapists ask when I take The Foot to physical therapy.  Sometimes The Foot can do what they want it to do.  Other times, not so much.

The newest trick these people want The Foot to do is pick up a pencil from the floor by curling its toes around it.  The Foot balks at this.  But The Foot’s partner, the other foot, can do it in a snap.   Easy peasy.  Would you like it to write your name with the pencil?  Put it in a drawer for you?  Sharpen it? No problem.  Just ask.

That’s nice, the therapists say, but we’re not here to deal with the “other” foot. We’re all about the one with issues.

I ask if THEY can pick up a pencil with THEIR toes.  Of course we can, they say.  Show me, I say.  Two little words: they can’t.

There followed considerable and lively discussions about whether or not young, able-bodied people should ask old(er), not so able-bodied people to do things they themselves cannot do.

We’ve not settled the matter entirely to my satisfaction, but it was, all in all, a fun and productive physical therapy session.  Proving, once again, that laughter is, indeed, the best medicine.