Occasionally, someone will mention that a book or movie is lacking some fundemental stuff. Don't these characters ever eat? Sleep? How has this guy been driving for six hours and not needed to pee yet?
Those are the obvious ones. Today, I'm going to talk about the OTHER thing you're probably forgetting when you tell stories: Common disabilities.
42% of people in America are nearsighted.
4% of adults have a serious food allergy.
And those are the ones so overlooked that they "don't even count." (Ask a nearsighted person. It affects your life in a big way.)
Now let me ask you: Have you ever written a character with glasses as more than a stylistic prop? Ever had one lose a contact lens? Need an inhaler? Carry Benadryl at all times? Have trouble with stairs?
Deal with an old injury that isn't specifically relevant to your plot? Have a deviated septum? Arthritis? Impacted teeth? Anything?
Because all of those things are really, really common. Major disability needs representation in stories, but there are also miles of human experience between bed-bound and super-soldier. Most people live somewhere along that road.
If you're accidentally writing them out of the universe, it's time to fix that.