Disability rights activist Richard Devylder, who was born without arms or legs, knew that people meeting with him for the first time were likely to be a bit uncomfortable.
So he used it.
"It works to my advantage, my disability," Devylder said in a 2000 interview with The Times. "It helps people, but it puts them off guard too. It disarms them if they are hostile.
"I use it any way I can."
Devylder, 46, who worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation and several state agencies where he pushed for transportation and emergency preparedness reforms, has died of natural causes.