Crippling Awkwardness

A few weeks ago, I went to see a play in a really tiny theatre space in midtown. As I climbed the stairs and entered the theatre, I saw that sitting on the other side of the theatre, there was a quadraplegic.

He was sitting in an elaborate wheelchair and and as I passed by him, we locked eyes and he said, "Hey!"

I nodded and realized - "Oh shit! I know that guy!"

I had no idea how I knew him, but I knew for sure that when I did know him he was definitely not a quadraplegic.

So after the show, I was talking to the director and he said, "Did you say 'Hi' to Winkie Donahue?" and he pointed to the quadraplegic. (The guy's name is not really "Winkie Donahue," but I don't want the actual guy to google the word "quadraplegic" and find this).

Ends up, the quadraplegic was a guy I used to know when I worked at Manhattan Theatre Club. Two years ago he was walking down the sidewalk, slipped on some ice, fell, and was instantly paralyzed from the neck down. Which is...ridiculously scary.

Anyway, I found myself not knowing how to handle it. Should I talk to Winkie? Should I not talk to Winkie? What am I supposed to say to him? It's not like I can say, "Hey, how's it goin'?" The last time I saw him he was not a quadraplegic and now he is a quadraplegic, so obviously it's not going very well.

And should I even acknowledge that he's in a wheelchair? The accident happened TWO YEARS AGO, so it's a little weird to say, "Whoa there Winkie! What happened to you!?"

Just then, Winkie blew in his tube and started rolling my way. He was looking right at me and was obviously coming over to talk to me. So...I left. I pretended to be completely oblivious and I walked out of the theatre.

Later I tried to justify it to myself:
"I mean, I was never really friends with Winkie. If he wasn't paralyzed, I probably wouldn't have talked to him at all. So really, I'm being an asshole if I DO talk to him. It's pity small-talk."

Right?

Truth is, I got totally freaked out and I ran away. I must have made Winkie feel like total shit. And I definitely made myself look like a jerk.

If I had it to do over again, I would totally just walk over to him and say, "What up, Wheels?! Did you hate that play as much as I did? Awesome. I'm outta here."

And then I would run away.