Getn Coffee

July 29, 2019 5:52 AM

with Billy P, the Bilateral Amputee.

Amazing.

posted by carter (10 comments total)

Man, I need more of these threads that give me a window into human ingenuity and purpose. He just answered a whole bunch of questions I didn't know I had. The cup for change, for instance.
posted by Peach at 6:02 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

He's a hoot. Love his spirit! Thanks for sharing this.
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 6:07 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

Very interesting. Would like to see him take the straw out of the paper and insert it in the cup, though. Iced coffee is likely a safer drink when driving.
posted by SoberHighland at 6:21 AM on July 29, 2019

We have a couple regular customers who are without the use of one arm; one has a prosthesis and the other does not (or chooses not to use it.) Both have worked out a number of things (one-armed "sling" backpack, different style of wallet) to make things more manageable. There are a couple things I'll do automatically (like, if the credit card receipt is curly from being at the end of the roll, I'll hold it flat on the counter so they can sign one-handed, but I do this for parents holding a child with one arm, too; or carrying out a carton of paper) but for the most part, they have worked out a lot of clever tricks.

And I say this not in a condescending "Aw, good for you!" way, but from an engineering angle, I am very curious about alternative solutions to common tasks.
posted by xedrik at 6:54 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yeah both the technology here, and his use of it, is very cool.
posted by carter at 7:52 AM on July 29, 2019

Man I have two functioning hands and drink cold brew because I'm a klutz before I'm caffeinated. Kudos to Billy.
posted by BrotherCaine at 8:29 AM on July 29, 2019

I appreciated that he asked her if he could film it. A considerate man. And looks like he spilled less coffee than I do in that situation, even though I can drop the cup in.

His "I'll let you know when I have it" was a good cue.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:52 AM on July 29, 2019 [4 favorites]

Happy giggles are the most infectious thing ever
posted by not_the_water at 10:06 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

That's great, thank you for posting it. The dexterity and precision he has with the hands is incredible - gripping a straw without crushing it?
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:19 PM on July 29, 2019

C.S. Giscombe’s recent meditation on why old-school mechanical prosthetics rule appears in the NYTimes’ excellent op-Ed series on disability.

https://www.nytimes.com/column/disability

since I’ve read about the science of surgical implants and neural control systems. It’s all quite interesting, but I doubt I could fix such an arm when it broke, and everything breaks. I’ve mounted field repairs on my current prosthesis with materials from bike shops, hardware stores, shoe repair businesses and — once — a lobster pound

Do follow the link to read more on the parallel "inconveniences" of being visibly Black and visibly disabled.
posted by Jesse the K at 4:27 PM on July 29, 2019 [3 favorites]