I've been thinking about a couple of men the past few days. I don't know either of them personally. I will never have the opportunity to know one of them because he died recently. Still, their respective paths are noteworthy.

I encountered one of the men on a UTA bus awhile back. He had a motorized wheelchair, to which was attached a breathing device and computer keyboard that enabled him to speak. He could scarcely keep his head above the tray attached to the chair.

I have some vivid memories of that chance encounter. First was the gross impatience of some of our fellow passengers. "This is going to take forever,'' a young man groaned aloud. Others nodded in agreement.

The bus driver, an affable sort, waved off the passengers' complaints. "This guy knows what he's doing. Just watch. We'll be back on the road in just a couple of minutes."

And we were.

The same routine was repeated — only in reverse — when the passenger got off the bus. I watched him motor away — in a big hurry. He clearly had a schedule to keep.

He was, perhaps, the most profoundly disabled person I had ever seen unaccompanied in public, let alone on public transportation. I marveled at his courage and determination to live as normal a life as possible.

Some time later, I read about Craig Ewert, whose death by assisted suicide was broadcast on BBC.

Ewert, who had a degenerative motor neurone disease, said his body had become a "living tomb" to him — that his life was not "in full tide."

I fully sympathize with Ewert's condition. It would only get worse.

But I struggle with his "solution."

Did Ewert need help dying or did he need a lot more help living? Could he not see the value of the life of the man I encountered on the Route 39 bus?

If society allows assisted suicide, does that mean it will feel less responsibility to enable older, ill and disabled people to live fulfilled and valuable lives? The former is a lot less hassle and far less expensive than the latter, after all.

These are large public policy discussions. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that terminally ill Americans have no constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide. The court did not preclude the states from legalizing the process. Three states — Montana, Oregon and Washington — have approved such laws.

There's an old saw that goes something like, "Do not judge a man unless you've walked a mile in his moccasins." I'm not judging Ewert. I am troubled by the unintended consequences of equating disability with having no quality of life.

It's not the end of life. It's a different life, admittedly not a life of one's choosing.