Support

Sometimes you suddenly find yourself in a new world, a different world, the kind you sort of knew existed but were never involved with. I hurt my leg in December and the wound hasn't healed yet, so when I got back after my trip I went to see the doctor. He told me how to treat the wound, and one thing he told me to do was to get a support stocking for my left leg. So I went to a shop that sells all these aids, walking frames and all that. I'd cycled past it regularly before, not thinking I'd be a customer there anytime soon.

Well, it was different. The lady serving there has probably seen it all and done it all and she is used to dealing with the elderly and all the others who need a little help. She was very decisive and knew exactly how it all worked. I was ushered into a small room, asked to take my sock and shoe off and then to sit down. I was measured from toe to knee, by someone who had obviously done this many times before. She said the stocking had to be made especially for me, so it would have the perfect fit, because my wound really needed to heal quickly. Then she told me to call back in about ten days to make an appointment.

In the end she called me after a week to tell me my stocking was ready. I could come over so I could be shown just how to put it on. I walked over to the shop, had to sit down again and take my sock and shoe off, and then she showed me the stocking and how to put it on. She had a greenish thing that looked like a sock, but only
reaching halfway up my foot. It is supposed to help me put my stocking on. The lady told me to fold it "like a gnome's hat", and that remark knocked me out completely. She proceeded to show me how to put the stocking on in about 30 seconds, and after that I couldn't see what the difficulty was. Then again, I'm not sure I understood
what she was saying. I just put it on every morning and hope I'm doing it the right way. I am sure that I fold my little gnome's hat properly, anyway.