I was going back and forth as to whether I should post this story, but then I realized that it points out the huge need for more knowledge and understanding, so... here goes.
For those who didn't know this, I have a seizure disorder. I have 15-40 seizures per day, mostly so small that I can hide them. Well, I was shopping at Fred Meyer, and a pretty strong one came on, just in my right arm -- not unusual. So I let it happen and kept shopping. This woman came charging up to me, looking like she was going to blow a gasket. I was just about to explain to her that I was fine, nothing to worry about, when she said, "You shouldn't be doing that, moving like that! It looks like you are imitating a seizure, and someone with epilepsy could see it and think you were making fun of them! Just stop it!"
I stared at her for a moment, not moving other than my arm. Then I busted out laughing. Maybe not the best reaction, but that was what came out. She did not like that. "This isn't funny! I should have you kicked out of the store! This isn't funny at all!" The best I could come up with was, well, yes, it was indeed funny that she would walk up to someone who was having an epileptic incident and say something like that. Yeah, that didn't go over too well either. "You're not epileptic -- you're not foaming at the mouth!" Yeah, more laughing and more seizing.
An employee came up to us and asked if something was wrong. The woman again accused me of making fun of epileptics by "pretending to wiggle" (huh?). He looked at my arm, then looked at her and said, "My sister is epileptic. She has unilateral limb seizures just like that all the time. This is real." She looked at him with her mouth open, then looked at me, then back at him and said, "Oh, so you are in on this too? You're both in on this?" After a beat, he and I both started laughing. "Well, I never!" and she stormed out.
I offered to help him put her groceries away. He said, "No sweat. Totally worth it. This story is going to have my sister in stitches."
