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Monologue Mania Day #268 by Janet S. Tiger Nov. 7, 2014 Wheelchair of Fortune
(from Caregivers Anonymous) A monologue by Janet S. Tiger © all rights reserved [email protected]
(There is a circle of chairs, filled with people of all ages - from teenagers to 80s, and they are talking together, laughing. A woman enters, she looks around for a chair to sit in, but they are all filled. Suddenly a man comes onstage in a wheelchair. This is Franklin, and he is somewhere in his fifties. The others perk up when they see him. He finishes his approach with an impressive wheelie and they cheer. The woman is surprised, looks around. Franklin sees her and zooms over.)
You're new! And welcome! We always love a fresh face! Well, actually, we love anyone's face because most of us have to take care of someone and sometimes, just sometimes......we get really sick of looking at that same face all day! Right gang?
(The others laugh and agree.)
And other times, we get really annoyed, like when our loved ones do stupid things, like diabetics who eat a chocolate cake for breakfast, washed down with a liter of Coke, of course! Or they have back surgery and are told DO NOT LIFT ANYTHING and they come home and what do they do?
(He encourages the others to join in)
THEY LIFT! Even though they know it could end them up with PERMANENT DAMAGE or BACK IN THE HOSPITAL! Or they refuse to take their medicine ...oh, yeah! Or they run out in the street naked because they are now two years old inside their brain, but they have adult bodies and no one wants them running around without their clothing!
Now this doesn't mean we hate the people we love....but sometimes we do! And we sometimes hate taking care of them! And sometimes we want to run away.......but we can't because we're all CRAZY! ...and.......we have some strange sense of duty or right and wrong....or...maybe....love....... and that's why....we come here....
(He now stands up from the wheelchair and takes it over to the new person. She is shocked)
So now, we welcome you to Caregivers Anonymous, where you can say anything and it will be kept completely confidential - where you can tell us what you are going through...because each of us here is on the same journey, maybe at different places along the path, but we can give you a heads up about where some of the potholes are.....and how to avoid them without becoming a pothead!
(The others jeer at this)
Or a drunk, or suicidal......or ........sick.
(He spins the wheelchair on one wheel)
And this......this is the wheelchair of fortune! Everyone has a chance to sit here and tell their story. Why a wheelchair? Because it's a reminder that, no matter how bad it is to be the caretaker.....it ain't so easy for the ones we are taking care of! And when you are ready, you get to take a ride in it, and tell everyone why YOU are here.......
(He tilts the chair towards her. Lights freeze on them as a spotlight hits one of the seated members. End of monologue, beginning of play)
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315 www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com Member Dramatists Guild since 1983 Playwright-in-Residence Swedenborg Hall 2006-8 --------------------------------------------------------