>  BM> Something that needs to be said is that the great majority
 >  BM> of people are either helpful or neutral.  However, there are
 >  BM> times when people's attempts at being helpful can be a
 >  BM> serious hazard to my safety.  Take, for example, those doors
 >  BM> in commercial establishments which swing open when you push,
 >  BM> then are closed by a pneumatic closer.  Ever become familiar
 >  BM> with one with a strong resistance to being pushed, then
 >  BM> almost fall to the floor one day when it had been adjusted
 >  BM> to much less resistance, unknown to you?  Or yanked open, if
 >  BM> it's a solid restroom door, by somebody who just happened to
 >  BM> be leaving?  If the distance is quite short and there are no
 >  BM> obstacles to my doing so, I often go into a place with my
 >  BM> cane.  Often, people will see me coming, and hold the door
 >  BM> for me, which is all right.  Negotiating such doors becomes
 >  BM> hazardous when people rush up behind me and push the door
 >  BM> open at the very moment when I am expecting, and *depending
 >  BM> upon* its resistance.  People who rush up from the other
 >  BM> side and yank the door open at the critical moment present
 >  BM> the same hazard.  I simply haven't the agility that most
 >  BM> people have to recover from the sudden loss of support.
 >  BM> There are other hazardous situations, but I think this
 >  BM> suffices to show that in spite of people's best intentions,
 >  BM> we with disabilities have to look out for ourselves.
 > And that doesn't take into account those who will
 > knock you over in their attempt to get in front of
 > youso that they CAN hold the door open for you.
 > Talk about the cure being worse than the disease.
 > ;-))
I've been fortunate to have not actually been knocked over in someone's haste 
to be helpful with doors, but I have had close calls while being helped up or 
down steps.  For these, I prefer to go it myself with the help of a sturdy 
graspable railing.  Yes, indeed, the cure sometimes threatens to be pretty 
horrifying.
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