The Paralympics

Tonight was a warm night in sub-tropical Australia. I lay outside with my brother and mother sitting nearby, and my dog off exploring the great land known as our backyard. I was lying down, feeling sick but still managing to look at photos of food. My brother was sipping a beer and also sitting on his iPhone and my mum flicking through the TV guide. 

Mum starts telling us about shows on and squeals to my brother that Downton Abby is on tonight. Then she says:

"The Paralympics is on, did we all know that?"

My brother answered quickly: "yes, but only for about half an hour a day"

Mum: "you're right!"

We went on to say how shocked we were. And, I am. 

For weeks leading up to the Olympics, we had to put up with thousands of ads and hype about it. Free to air and cable tv both bought certain rights to the Olympics and, any time of the day you were guaranteed to have something to watch. 

I don't mind this as such. I remember the Sydney 2000 Olympics with great fondness even though I was only 6 years old. We watched them everyday after school but we also watched the Paralympics and loved it. The Paralympics had their own Australian mascot too. 

So what's happened?

My mum and brother said they would prefer watching the Paralympics. So would I. 

What an excellent chance for disability advocacy and acceptance...

For half an hour a day. 

Am I the only one who has a major problem with this?