The Elevator

When I was in fifth grade, before I lost my leg, I was wheelchair bound. Every day when we would go to one of our "out classes" I would have to ride the elevator down with a buddy. Now this buddy was designated to be my buddy all day, meaning they would push my wheelchair around, ride the elevator with me, and just make sure I didn't hurt myself or anyone else. 

One day, one of the girls in my class whom I have known since first grade was my "buddy" for the day. She and I got along well, so as you can imagine I was excited to have her as my buddy! When I was in fifth grade, I was very hyper-active. I couldn't sit still, and I always had to be talking or moving. I also had a very good sense of humor, so I pretty much laughed at everything. But on this particular day, it got me into trouble.

Anyway, this girl and I were on our way to art class or music or something, so we had to take the elevator down. On this particular day I felt wild, so I decided for whatever reason it would be a good idea to recline my wheelchair seat all the way back. The elementary school elevator is very small, so it didn't exactly fit in very well. My buddy tried to push me in, but the doors started closing on us, so we pushed the "door open" button like any other person. This poor sweet girl who was designated to be my buddy for the day still couldn't get me in after about three more attempts. Meanwhile, I thought that this was the funniest thing that had ever happened to me, so I am sitting there laughing hysterically. Then the elevator alarm started going off, and we still couldn't fit my wheelchair in. We tried getting the seat back up, but it just didn't work, we were too weak. Then all of a sudden comes our fifth grade math teacher. This was at the beginning of the year, so we were all still terrified of her, and she started yelling at us. 

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?! WHY ARE YOU PLAYING IN THE ELEVATOR??" she screams

"Oh. We couldn't fit it in, and it won't go back up" my friend says 

"HERE. THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT." the teacher says as she yanks a lever to make the seat pop back up. "IF I EVER CATCH YOU TWO PLAYING IN HERE AGAIN, YOU WILL BE IN BIG TROUBLE." she stormed off.

Throughout this entire time, one would think I would be very sweet and respectful right? Well I was laughing this entire time, which only made her more upset. I got a check on my card *gasp* for being disrespectful and "laughing at a teacher" that week. 

My friend and I finally made it down to wherever we were supposed to be. She was furious. 

To this day she still claims that I ruined her fifth grade year, but none the less, we are still friends, even after this elevator disaster.