With a mix of exhilaration and profound frustration, two local individuals, Kaitlyn Williams and Mitchell Rodgers, both 25, who happen to share the same set of disabilities, found themselves on a blind date set up by their mutual friends.
Both had begrudgingly agreed, fully expecting to be mad at their friends for such an ableist display of tokenism. But as the date went on, Williams and Rodgers realized something: They had immediate chemistry, and they both found that infuriating.
“It’s her fucking laugh, man!” Rodgers admitted. “One minute, we were mocking our friends, talking about how absurd it is that they would expect us to get along. Then Kait giggled, and I was like, ‘Goddammit, she’s fucking cute!’”
“We already figured we were the only wheelchair users they knew. But I guess Andrew begged Mitch to go the same way Lisa begged me to go,” said an exasperated Williams, referring to mutual friends and married couple Andrew Connor and Lisa Bingham.
“And I knew we were both disabled — that was cringe enough,” Williams continued. “But like, we both have spastic diplegia cerebral palsy and are both autistic!”
“We have the same wheelchair model, for fuck’s sake!” Rodgers interrupted.
Williams continued: “And then I find out that Mitch is not only handsome, not only has big arms and shoulders, but then he had the nerve to make me laugh? Like, fuck off! I did not need Lisa to be right!”
“I tried to downplay the disability of it all,” Bingham explained, “but like, that WAS why we thought to get them together, so thank God they were right for each other too!”
“I just figured if Mitch was going to keep complaining about nobody ‘getting’ him, then Kait might! Two months later, they’re serious. They’re not going to live this down,” remarked Connor with a sly grin.