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George A. said: " Do we repel the eye, or do we attract the eye?" Hey George, I think it's a case of BOTH happening. By repelling, we attract. In the case of whether a Parkie's "invisible" or "transparent," well, m'friend, THAT might very well be a case of "which came first - the chicken or the egg," 'cause in the overall picture, I suspect it doesn't make any difference what it's called - it just "is." Barb Mallut <who's never settled for being "invisible!") <OR "transparent"> [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange on behalf of George Andes Sent: Sunday, January 11, 1998 5:33 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: transparency Are we pwp invisible? or are we too visible to those who would wish us elsewhere? Do we repel the eye, or do we attract the eye? For my part I would rather the visible part of me [my cane, my wheelchair, my tremor, my stoop, my mask, in short, my pd symptoms] were transparent, and my friends [aquaintances, strangers, adversaries] would see through and behind these externals to the inside me. Transparency is not invisibility. Even the cleanest an clearest glass window makes its presence known by chance reflections, small bits of surface dust, and minor distortions in the glass. PD is not that clean or subtle. Our symptoms don't try to disguise themselves. But we are more than just the sums of our symptoms. We are more like the unafflicted than not. Our commonalities far outnumber our differences. Perhaps that is precisely what makes others uncomfortable. We cannot be dismissed as aliens. We must be acknowledged as living, breathing, persons with some unusual motor traits. I vote for tranparency, and to hell with invisibility. I'm too old to play peek-a-boo. George Andes 64/15 and still here