You've gotta laugh

Sometimes having POTS and using certain adaptive tools to help me through the day (cane, compression tights, etc.) gets me certain stares or outright questions/comments from random folks.

This especially happens when I use my cane. I used it far more often in the summer than I do now, but I still use it. I get funny looks because I'm 20. You don't very often see someone my age on a cane. I get some "WTF?" looks on the street, but not too many since Pittsburgh is a mecca for medical freaks like me (The University of Pittsburgh Medical System can treat just about anything that ails you). The most interesting ones I get are from older folks on the bus. It almost seems as though they're thinking to themselves "Eh, it could be worse." At least, that's what I imagine they're thinking.

But a lot of what I get is people who knew me before I started using the cane and I can't say I really blame them. Usually they think something horrific has happened to me. No no. You know that thing I have? No, not that one, the other thing? Yeah, it got worse. I'm usually nice enough to explain what's up to those with good intentions, but sometimes I neither have the time nor the energy to explain. That's when I have to reach into the snappy comeback file.

The best one I've been able to come up with so far is "I'm a pimp." It makes them laugh and I can make my getaway before they say "No, seriously..."

Then there's the compression tights. Those are flesh toned and actually pretty discrete. Even when I'm in shorts or a skirt they aren't the noticeable. The only way you can really tell is if you're either a) within a foot of my leg or b) witnessing me pull at the tights. That's when I get, "What's up with the tights?" That's when I say, "I'm a superhero. Shhhh."

Yeah, those aren't the best comebacks in the world. But you work with what you've got.