Like how insensitive people can be. And self-centered and uncaring.
Like drivers who inconsiderately speed around, paying no mind to pedestrians, bicyclists, those pushing babies and young children in strollers, and people in wheelchairs.
And then, there are all those drivers in my town who ignore me in my wheelchair as I attempt to cross streets at crosswalks and at traffic signals.
They speed on past me, never even slowing down, as if anyone not in a vehicle is invisible to them entirely.
It has been 23 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to mandate equal access be granted to those who are differently-abled. It is not only cold and calloused, but illegal, for business owners to not, know about and willingly provide, reasonable accommodations so that disabled people can be included.
We should not even need a law directing folks to be helpful so that those who use wheelchairs, canes, and walkers, as well as, those who walk unaided but with great difficulty, can be included and go places abled-bodied people go.
In my view, a little awareness and empathy can go a long way to helping us all become better citizens.
Or, like joggers who won't slow down and use caution while passing me in my wheelchair when we share walking/bike paths.
Or people who spit on the sidewalk. Who wants to inadvertently walk/roll through that and track it into our homes?
And then there are those that litter, completely clueless to the bad example they set for the countless children watching their actions.
Sometimes I feel very annoyed after such people cross my path.
A woman working at Denny's in my town came to open the door for me (AFTER I beckoned her with the appropriate hand-gesture.) She opened the door and then stood directly in the path of my wheelchair!
I politely told her she was standing in my way to get through the doorway, after which she griped sarcastically, "I don't know what to do!"
They speed on past me, never even slowing down, as if anyone not in a vehicle is invisible to them entirely.
On another day, I encountered two clueless young women at the local bagel shop who handed me the key to the restroom, after which I followed their instructions to go down a narrow hallway only to discover 3 feet from the restroom door there was a step.
To make matters worse, the hallway had boxes and supplies stacked along the side, and was too narrow for me to turn my wheelchair around to exit the hallway back the way I'd come.
I had to back my wheelchair all the way out of the hallway, which was unduly stressful. I was even more upset the workers DIDN'T THINK to realize a wheelchair needs a ramp to traverse a step!
We should not even need a law directing folks to be helpful so that those who use wheelchairs, canes, and walkers, as well as, those who walk unaided but with great difficulty, can be included and go places abled-bodied people go.
Even when folks do not personally have any disabled or elderly and frail people in their lives, it only takes a small amount of imagination to become aware of the obstacles which exist that are barriers to access.
Long before it became difficult for me to walk, when my children were little, I taught them to be aware of and helpful to those around them who were having difficulty. After all, isn't that the right thing to do?
In my view, a little awareness and empathy can go a long way to helping us all become better citizens.
