Friday, July 24, 2009

A crip left behind, again

What will they think of next? Or not think of?
Forgive me, but I sometimes think that people try to make things harder for me. I know, I know - this is most probably not so, and people are simply not thinking. They are just not aware. But there are times when I feel that people come up with new ways to make my life harder. I can’t help it. Sort of like when I get mad when passing drivers honk their horns, making me jump. Why does everyone always have to make so much noise? Do they like to see me jump?
Take last week, for instance. I wanted to purchase tickets for a play. An attendant wasn’t around to make a phone call, so I thought I’d buy the tickets on-line. Cool! I like doing things for myself! Trouble was, it turned out I had something like four minutes to do the order before getting timed out. With my slow typing and with all the information they wanted, this was a tall order and ultimately, after two very frustrating attempts, impossible. I had an attendant call later, and luckily there were still tickets.
This was unfair. It would have been even more unfair if the tickets were cheaper on-line, as is sometimes the case. But I think whoever came up with this program just wasn’t thinking of my disability and slow typing. The same with those who designed the automated phone services, like when I call the newspaper to stop delivery while I’m on vacation, that ask one to speak their selection. This is handy, albeit maybe frustrating, for most people but impossible with impaired speech.
At least they’re not sneaky and evil. Not like Motel 6.
I’m about to go out of town, and I’ve been thinking of Motel 6. For years when I traveled, I stayed at Motel 6s quite happily. They were more or less affordable on my fixed income and provided what I need, and some, like the one in Morro Bay, were quite nice. Then, two or three years ago, all their wheelchair-accessible rooms had only one bed (no roll-away beds available). This meant I had to get two rooms for me and my attendant. Sure, there are disabled people who can travel alone and take care of themselves, but there are many who can’t, and I doubt many of them sleep with their attendants.
This is more than unfair. It is more than discrimination. It is making money off the disabled.
That stinks.

3 comments:

  1. Your piece on the IOU's struck me as did the left behind post that the system is not or better yet the people just are not getting the cliche, if you are not outraged, you are not paying attention!
    I just had to mention the fact, with me being a drug and alcohol counselor, there are many who for one reason or another, do not condone drunk driving but rather permit the bar drinking and other outrageous behavior, like attempting to drive while intoxicated, do not get just a little curious why advertisements say, drink responsibly of all paradoxial comments, as we have an outright epidemic of deaths due to drinking while driving. This among other things is a little intriguing as to why we do not either be aware or are just a little ignorant to the numbers, as I would like to anologize, if a jumbo jet fell out of the sky every week due to incompetent pilots, would we be even a little bit outraged!
    As for getting aware, it strikes me why we do not get out in the streets for way we apathetically let politics mozy along with business as usual, as we see the people of Iran, coming out in drones, some millions, to not only being outraged but showing acivism for fraud and corruption. Something like our political stealings of elections and, well, you get my point. The only thing I see our people getting out on the streets for is gas prices being spiked. If we should feel for the way the haves and have nots are treated, we would need to rethink societal apathy, and deal with the corruption on a local level as well as on a governmental shakedown.
    Be it those who are taken advantaged of, we need to rethink our values and get behind the reality of change and fairness to all, even where accessability is concerned.
    My point I guess is if we do not care about our own government, as I like to call it, the people and not the lawmakers, we should very well be able to change for the better if we could only get a little more involved by getting out to protest or better yet turn off the T.V. and become more aware of why we are stuck on a two sided system when we can do more individually changing our dialogue for activism.
    Myself included, I do not like what is wrong with government, but who is going to change it? Maybe not just me, but it is a start in the right direction. Peace.

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  2. Thanks for opening the eyes of many who simply don't see or understand.

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  3. Hi, John. I am in the process of having my sister, Betty be able to go to her daughter's wedding. She lives in a nursing home on a vent with a trach. She only has partial use of 1 arm, having had strokes. It seems like the nursing home is trying to have her not go. I am paying the expenses of the ambulance and oxygen. The nursing home must get a nurse and a respitory therapist. I am determined that she goes. Ahavia Lavana

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