As I enter my 9th week since breaking my leg I’m finding it increasingly difficult to stay upbeat. I’m still not allowed to do any weight bearing, still reliant on a combination of mobility scooter and crutches. And the daily frustrations faced by a person in a wheelchair or scooter are really starting to get to me.
Gone are the early days when I was just thrilled to have any mobility at all, when I was kindly tolerant of people who ignorantly zigzagged in front of me so I couldn’t pass them, and gently amused by all the physical barriers I confronted each day. For the longest time I was just grateful that I could do so much.
Now I find myself getting angry about the things I can’t do, the places I can’t go (e.g. see my train rant), the fact that I have to spend so much extra time on websites and then the phone to check on accessibility before booking tickets to anything, the insane number of times I have to back up for a block or two because the sidewalk ends with no down ramp or because some idiot has parked their car in front of the ramp.
Everything just takes so much longer! And so often ends in disappointment. Most of the interesting music and fringe theatre performances are in pubs, which are rarely accessible. I don’t blame them: many were built over 100 years ago. But it is still frustrating.
Last night we went to an event in a university lecture theatre, in a modern building. In theory it was accessible, and I duly scooted away from the main doors and off to the handicapped entrance, where I discovered that the handicapped entry doors were locked.
There was a buzzer there to contact someone, but nobody answered. Had DH not been with me, and able to go off and try to get help, I would have completely missed the event (which was a delightful discussion on Crime Science vs Crime Fiction with a panel of forensic specialists and crime writers).
Once someone finally did come to unlock the door (which took about 15 minutes), I discovered that to reach to press the button to summon the elevator I had to drive my scooter right up to the door, but you had to keep holding it and I couldn’t do that because the doors opened outward, so my scooter was then making it impossible for the doors to open!
Once DH came back and held the button while I backed out of the way, I was able to get in but it turned out to be another of these elevators — all too common here — where the entry and exit doors are at right angles, and there isn’t enough room to turn the scooter to get out. DH had to lift the back of it to point it in the right direction. I now understand why there are often free rates for a companion. At first I felt guilty accepting those, but so often, even in a scooter, you really do need that other person.
Then we got to the theatre and asked the usher where we could sit. He said “anywhere you like”, but there was only one row of seats that was at the level the scooter could access, so we had to guilt-trip somebody into giving up their seats to us. (Had we been able to get in without problem in the first place, we’d have taken those seats before anyone else had. We’d arrived at the building early enough!)
Today I spent the morning checking out things to do this weekend, scratching one after another off the list because they were in inaccessible venues. I finally found one that claimed to have some accessible spots, so I called to make the booking. (You always have to call if you want an accessible seat.) Three times we got partway through the process and the phone got cut off. The 2nd time the rep even said he’d call me back if that happened, but he never did. I finally gave up in frustration.
Part of me thinks, “Why should I even bother? Why try? Why not just give up and stay home?”
But that is wrong. That is why people can go on being so blissfully ignorant about the needless barriers they place in front of those with disabilities, preventing them from full participation in our society. If they browbeat you to the point where you give up, then they can happily go on thinking that there’s no need to invest in true access because “nobody would use it anyway”. If you keep the bloody doors locked, of course nobody’s going to come in!
