Friday, 22 June 2012  The Pain Olympics  I've written about this
before, so forgive me if you're bored of reading about it, but
it's been on my mind. And hey, it's topical (35 days to go until
the real olympics). Apologies if you're heartily sick of the
olympics. Obviously, this isn't really about sport, so read on.
What I mean by the 'pain olympics' is the competitiveness that
I've occasionally witnessed from other people with chronic
illnesses or disabilities, as though there's a gold medal for
the 'most disabled'. The conversation might go something like
this:  Person 1: I am paraplegic (paralysed from the waist
down). This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.
Person 2: I am tetraplegic (paralysed from the shoulders down).
You're hardly paralysed. Call that an injury? It's just a slap
on the arse. Get yourself a band-aid and a cup of tea and you'll
be fine.  With some paraphrasing, this is a conversation that I
have heard many times in real life.  I have to admit that it's
tempting to squash t