Thank you so much for your honesty and your dignified and considered answer. Is there ever an exception? I know that I hate going out if my walk is bad, which it can be if I am stressed, esp if upset or embarrassed, and if I don't get enough sleep. This has become more pronounced since having DBS.
I know one person who wears smart clothing and good leather shoes when out - no jeans or scruffy sneakers, and he feels this gets him a better reception than he might otherwise get. Likes to look his best and it works for him.
Another lady with tremor, who finds signing cheques or using credit cards for buying groceries sometimes difficult to impossible, has solved it for the moment by approaching, with the permission of the manager, one lady on a till with whom she always had a great laugh while they processed her groceries. Now she goes to the supermarket when it is quiet, and tries to make it also at a time when she can sign, but if she can't sign the lady on the till will make out the cheque for her and put it in the till and the customer signs the cheque as soon as she can. Of course this only works in a local shop where you are well known, and in her case there was a sympathetic supermarket manager with whom she spoke first.
It is good to hear from someone for whom dealing with it ls working well and hopefuly others will imitate!
I remember that some of us in PALS, the YOPD PAI branch, investigated the idea of having two signatures available say in your local bank as acceptable proof of identity regardless of whether you were on or off, but we could not seem to interest the banks. We even designed a card. This stemmed from one person describing walking up and down outside the bank for 20 minutes so he could ensure he would be able to sign a withdrawal slip. Nowadays people use an ATM machine but it is a good scenario to plan ahead what to do if encountered.