I’m not one to shy away from confrontation, especially when I’m in the right. There’s nothing more satisfying than coming up with the perfect, witty parting shot before flouncing or storming off!

I remember years ago when someone challenged me in a supermarket car park for daring to park in a parent and child space. I thought it strange that she was jumping up and down and pointing out the £60 fine for flouting the rules before making absolutely sure I was guilty. I calmly retrieved my infant son from the back seat before smugly stating, “get your facts straight before you speak to me” and flouncing off.

It’s much harder to achieve when you’re disabled though and rely on other people to help you!

I was in hospital this week awaiting surgery and was told I had to go home as the notes from my assessment were incomplete. I’d been there for 5 hours by the time they broke the news and was sitting up in bed wearing nothing but a hospital gown! I’d spent weeks psyching myself up for hospital and hadn’t been dealing with it terribly well so you can imagine how I reacted.

I burst into tears and was trying to get my head round what the nurse was saying when I realised I wanted to get the hell out of there and go home. She wanted me to calm down and have a cup of tea, which I was having none of!

I shouted, “bollocks to your tea! I’m going home!” at which point it would have felt good to storm off, but my bottom was hanging out of a hospital gown! Instead of storming off I had to ask her to get a nurse to help me get dressed so I could storm off! This detracted from the impact somewhat, especially as I was eternally grateful to the lovely nurse who was helping me so had to keep thanking her.

What seemed like 4 hours passed before I was back on my scooter and ready to flounce, by which time the intended recipient was nowhere to be seen. The impact was further reduced by having to ask people to hold doors open for me as I trundled down the corridor.

I missed out on the feeling of self-righteous indignation I felt I deserved and worry about how ridiculous I looked! I can’t thank the staff enough though as they were patient and understanding and I made sure I communicated this when I called the following day!