Okay, who told this to you?

That was my friends and I, I don’t think it’s an original thing, but my friend who surfs, like I surf, and he surfs. Um so we like always got the thing like, “you’re such an inspiration for surfing.” And we’re like no, we just have fun, and he’s in a wheelchair also. And um, I don’t think it’s original, but um, we were like “if you’re not living life on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” So, it became a thing between us.

So just you two say this?

And, like um, it’s mostly us two, but—

Is there an origin to this, or do you think maybe you heard something similar to this, and kind of formed from that?

I mean it doesn’t seem like it would be original, you know I just assume. I don’t know exactly if it is original or not, it seems like something someone could have come up with.

So you heard it, and subconsciously came up with it?

Probably, something like that.

My Reaction:

The person that I collected this particular piece of folklore from has been in a wheelchair ever since he’s grown up, and based on the things I’ve heard from his family and close friends, he’s always been so optimistic and has never viewed his wheelchair as a handicap. I think that this little sentiment that he gave me proves that. I remember one time, someone asked him what he would do if he could walk again, and he responded by asking if he would still be able to play wheelchair sports. This just goes to show how positive he is about his situation and that you should push yourself to the limit.