>A comment from this excellent post on invisibility:

http://disabledfeminists.com/2009/10/20/what-can-i-do/#comment-537

“I was so grateful when I got my cane, because it gave me an excuse to ask for seats on the bus, or first dibs on the elevator. (Though, my school keeps its elevators accessible by making sure they’re slow, small, smell of pee, and placed where no one not following the tiny wheelchair signs will find them.) I also found that my anxiety had a lot to do about it, since I have social anxiety–on days when I had more mental spoons, I had the resources to just stand still on the escalator and put up with everyone else’s angry glares. When I didn’t have the spoons I wanted to apologize for sharing anybody’s air, and was willing to walk and take the stairs the long way round, just so I didn’t “inconvenience” anyone.”

I like the idea of ‘mental spoons’, since I also have social anxiety. Some days I am up for going across the street to the convenience store by myself, and some days I cannot muster the courage. Thinking of it in the ‘spoons’ metaphor I think will help me come to terms better each time this comes up.