Team8s and Counting

150. Please Don't Touch It!

On a Saturday afternoon towards the end of winter, Saw, Gaty, and Pin decided to take Bladey and Thread to the mall for a fun girls shopping day.

"Isn't it nice to get a break from the boys sometimes?" Saw asked the two girls.

Both of them nodded. "I love them," Thread replied, "But sometimes it's fun to be with just the girls!"

"Why couldn't Auntie Barf Bag and Auntie Needle come?" Bladey asked. "Then we would truly have all of the girls!"

Pin chuckled. "Needle had to take Dimey to soccer practice, and Uncle Coiny is going too since he hasn't been to one yet, and Auntie Barf Bag wasn't going to leave Uncle Donut to take care of Sack and Sprinkle all by himself!"

"Those two can be very crazy!" Bladey said.

"Yeah," Gaty chimed in with a smile, "taking care of those two is definitely a two-person job, especially after hearing about their little bath time chase the other night!"

Bladey and Thread were giggling with each other about all the boys, and all the moms were excited to spend the day with each of their girls.

As the five of them were making their way through the mall, a store that looked like it contained everything a little girl could want caught Bladey's eye.

Bladey immediately started tugging on Saw's arm. "Mommy, Mommy! Can we please go in there?"

Saw took a look at the store, which seemed very appropriate for the two girls. It looked like it had an array of jewelry and cosmetics, but in a more appealing way for kids their age. "Of course we can go in!"

The girls tried to contain their excitement as they entered the store. Bladey immediately darted to all of the necklaces and bracelets. She couldn't help but admire all of the shiny jewelry that was just inches away from her.

Thread, meanwhile, wheeled her way up to where some of the play makeup was. The store was a little hard to maneuver around in her wheelchair, but she managed. As she was looking around, all the sudden, she could hear the creaks of one of her wheelchair handles. As she turned around, she saw a person was using it as a support, as she placed her elbow on the handle, looking at all of what the store had to offer.

Thread was starting to feel upset. She hated when people touched her chair without her permission, and for the stupidest reasons to. Thankfully, her parents made sure to let her know that she had the right to say something if someone was messing with the chair.

"Hey!" Thread said. "Please don't touch my wheelchair!" The person just ignored her, and walked to a different part of the store. Feeling uncomfortable from this encounter, Thread went up to her mom, and told her about what happened.

"Mommy?" Thread looked up at Pin.

Pin looked back down at her daughter. "Hey sweetie, did you find anything you might like?"

Thread shook her head. "Someone was touching my chair, and it was making me uncomfortable."

Pin started to grow furious, but hid it from Thread. She hated it as much as Thread when people treated her wheelchair as just a simple object, rather than a part of her. "I'm so sorry, Thread, people should not be touching your chair without asking. That's not okay at all."

Thread looked up at her mom, feeling a little relieved that Pin understood how much it bothered her. "Yeah, it just made me feel really weird."

Pin knelt down to Thread's level, making sure her daughter could see how serious she was. "Listen, your chair is part of you. People don't get to touch it without asking. If anyone ever does that again, you have every right to tell them to stop, just like you did. I'm proud of you for speaking up."