I Hope You Don't Take This The Wrong Way

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I have been thinking long and hard about what I'm about to say and it's difficult because I'm not the world's best at diplomacy and tact, even whilst typing, so I hope you can understand what I'm on about without - like I say, "taking it the wrong way." Well, here goes:- Way back in 2007 I placed an ad in the newspaper looking for work, not expecting to get any replies. A chap called Bryan rang me and asked me to come and see where he was working at a place called Warwick Bridge. John knew it and drove me there so Bryan could suss out what my data input skills were like. I told him all he had to know and he said that he would give me a month's trial at a tenner an hour, which was more than I'd ever been paid before, so I accepted his kind offer. John would take me there early in the morning and I would catch the bus coming back. Perfect..or so I thought. Now, here's where the controversy comes in. Bryan is disabled. He gets around in a wheelchair but can transfer himself to a chair or even to get around on sticks albeit as a bit of a struggle. His workmate (unfortunately, I cannot remember his name) was also in a wheelchair but was born with spina bifeda, if memory serves me whereas Bryan has been disabled for 25 years after a parachute jump accident. He spent months in Stoke Mandeville Hospital where they specialise in spinal injuries. From that moment on he decided that his disability would not hold him back..and it didn't. HOWEVER! I do think Bryan - despite being disabled all this time, hasn't fully come to terms with his lack of mobility. After a few days of knowing him he would call himself a "cripple" and have a go at airlines who would not accommodate him properly on their aeroplanes, branding them insensitive and uncaring. Travelling to London was part of his job. When Bryan was on his own (his friend went into hospital for an operation) he was fine but when his mate came back they were like..I dunno, "let's get at the able-bodied person" and proceeded to tell me that one day I would be "just like them and would most certainly fall down the stairs, ending up in a wheelchair!" These comments were not said as a joke; they meant every word, I could tell. I let them do this on a regular basis, never commenting but it did make me think that people, no matter if they are able-bodied or not, can be quite mean and insensitive toward others and they may even use their disabilities to do this in the first place because they know they can get away with it..whereas I could not, of course. Once the month was up I actually got sacked as Bryan needed someone with more advanced computer skills than myself. I was upset about it at the time because I didn't see it coming and, of course, I loved the hourly rate, so that was a blow. This is the bit you may not "get" but, do you know what I think? I think those two guys couldn't cope with someone like me who could use their legs to get around. It made them feel uncomfortable even though I never made it uncomfortable for them by staring unnecessarily or making off-the-cuff remarks. So, why was it OK for them to be like that with me?