I've lost two close friends to cancer and one to complications of MS. They were equally horrid to my friends and to me.

Yep, I've noticed the difference during especially bad times. I also notice a big difference in reactions between using my manual wheelchair and my scooter. I think the manual chair looks more "clinical" to people where the scooter looks "fun". For the record, I hate needing both of them.

I've actually had people ask me if I really "need that thing" because I don't pout 24/7 and a lot of the time I'm actually in a pretty good mood.

A lot of times I have had store personnel offer a lot of help to me and I agree, people are basically good. But if you saw me in a lawn chair at a campfire, you'd never know or suspect a thing until it was time to recycle the beer.