Accommodations
Matt didn’t know quite what to do. All the seats it would be more convenient for him to sit in were taken. With a sigh, he went to one near the back of the room. “Excuse me,” he said politely to the person sitting there, after his cane bumped his ankle. “Hm?” the other student said, glancing back at Matt. “Oh, you’re fine.”
“You mind moving over one seat?” Matt asked. The other young man looked back over at him. “Um, why?” he asked. “No offense, but it’s not like you need to see the board.”
“No, it’s not that,” Matt explained. “I’m left-handed. It’s just easier to sit on the left, so I don’t bump elbows with people.”
The other guy seemed annoyed now. “C’mon, man, I’ve already got all settled here,” he said.
Matt sighed and tried another desk, this time near the front. He’d always found the front or back of a classroom to be a little less noisy than the middle. The guy in that left-hand seat, however, was apologetic, but explained that he had an eye condition that made it difficult for him to see from a distance, and this was the nearest seat to the board he’d been able to find, so… Matt didn’t know him very well, but he thought he was telling the truth. He tried another seat, but the girl there refused to move, too. Everyone he asked refused to move. One other person had a good excuse – a broken leg that would make it awkward for her to move any farther, and the other seats at her table, which was in the back of the side of the room nearest the door, were taken – but the rest were just unwilling to move. Finally, he was forced to take a right-hand seat near the front, next to another guy who refused to move. “Oh, just suck it up,” he snapped when Matt tried to explain his reason for asking.
Matt pulled out his braille writer to take notes when class started. Of course, he and the other guy kept bumping elbows. “Hey!” the guy next to him hissed, about five minutes in. “Will you quit doing that?” He turned his face in the guy’s general direction. “Sorry, I can’t take handwritten notes,” he pointed out.
“No, not that,” the other guy snapped. “You’re bumping my elbow.”
Matt just shrugged. “You’re the one who wouldn’t change seats,” he said simply. “Now, suck it up.” Then he went back to taking notes.