Am I really supposed to believe that?

Last Friday I took delivery of my power wheelchair!

Last Saturday my spouse and I went for a trial run in the wheelchair to get used to it. It's sized just right for me - unlike the demo chair I had, which was way too big. And it seemed to be a piece of freedom for me. I was all set to escape from my home and go exploring to places I haven't been able to get to for years. I could leave the confines of my comfortable - but seeming more and more like a prison - home and get fresh air, sun, and all on my own!

But then the wheelchair came to a jarring stop.

There was no power to the joystick. There was no power in my wheelchair.

It became an exceedingly expensive sculpture. The winner in a game of statues.

Luckily, my husband was there. Luckily, he is very fit. Unluckily, we were at the bottom of a hill. He likens the effort to push the chair back up the hill to running up the Grouse Grind. He ran home to get my walking poles and foot splint, so I walked back up the hill to home while he pushed the chair.

I left a phone message with the dealer on Saturday, and today a mechanic came to fix the statue... er, power wheelchair. He said a connection was loose in the engine. He had never seen that before, but he got his tools and took the chair apart in the hallway outside our apartment. He said it was a connection that is usually almost impossible to disconnect, but it wouldn't stay closed. So he took a plastic tie and tied it together. (A plastic tie like you see cops using to tie up criminals on the news... an apt piece of plastic for the chair.)

So I asked, "What are the chances that this will happen again?" He said "Zero."

So am I really supposed to believe that?

It wasn't suppose to ever happen to begin with. Now am I'm supposed to be confident that I can take the chair out on my own? Cross busy streets without fear of it dying in the middle? Go down hills and believe that I can get back up them? Have the freedom I was hoping to obtain?

Call me jaded. But this chair is looking more like a death trap, and less like freedom to me. That's depressing.