A few days ago, I was standing at the bus stop.  It was cold, my hands were in my pockets, and I was staring at the ground, willing the bus to hurry up.  Then this man walks by and exclaims “Wake up!”

I never know how I am going to react in the moment when people say things to me.  In this case, I kind of gave him a half smile and didn’t say anything.  I wish I could have seen my actual facial expression, but I am sure I looked annoyed.  The man realized I was not amused, and walked away.

The bus arrived and I got on and started thinking about his comment.  In my mind, I was like maybe I should have said “I was born with a rare genetic condition and my eyes always look this way.”  But I just wasn’t in the mood to explain anything.

The other thing that annoyed me was that even if I had “normal” eyes, and someone told me to wake up, I would still not be happy about it.  Obviously this man didn’t know I have BPES, and just thought I was tired.  I would never say that to anyone, because I perceive it as rude.  If someone is tired and their eyes are drooping, why is it your place to tell them to wake up?

I have been dealing with stares and random comments my whole life, but now that I have this blog, I am glad that it gives me a chance to document it.  It is interesting to me how I always think I will politely explain my condition when people make comments, but when it actually happens my immediate reaction is to glare at them and say nothing.