Suck it up, gimpy.

There's a woman in my office who suffered an injury a little while ago; She apparently slipped on some icy steps and broke her ankle. She's got one of those grey boot-casts, a short one, on the broken foot. And she's making out like she is the uber-victim of all time. For a while, she was wheeling herself around on an office chair everywhere. To the kitchen, to the bathroom. She refuses to use any bathroom stall other than the big, handicap-accessible one, saying, "Oh, I'd better wait," if it's occupied (which it usually is, since the floor is nearly entirely women, and there's only four stalls in our bathroom). Now, she's graduated to crutches, but it's still a production every time I see her getting anywhere. Hobbling along dramatically, making people hold doors open for her. I can tell you right now that it takes her for bloody ever to get from A to B not because of her injury, but because she'll stop to talk to anyone who will listen to her "poor me" sob story. I've even overheard her in the kitchen talking about suing whoever had neglected to throw salt on the icy steps.
Why am I so hard-hearted to her plight? Let me break it down for you. She's got one short cast. She has it because she slipped and fell. Yes, it sucks. Lots of stuff sucks. Suck it up.
I had two of those boot-casts, and mine went up to my knees. I had them because I GOT HIT BY A CAR that might have KILLED ME if angles, luck and helmets weren't on my side. And while I certainly did my time in a wheelchair for a few weeks right after the accident, I like to think that I bounced back shortly thereafter and was making my way around town on my moonbooted feet and crutches. (And help from friends and family, no doubt, but I had been HIT BY A CAR!)
So what's my point? Perspective. I fully acknowledge that I was lucky enough to be home healing in my own bed after my accident, not in traction at the hospital in a coma for months. Ms. Slip-and-fall needs to realize that she has experienced a minor upset, not a major trauma, and that further, no one really cares. Well, at least I don't.