My husband is also in a wheelchair (for at least 12 years), and we have been turned away from restaurants, movies, and other special attractions just because he couldn’t get in with his wheelchair. So many of the times he will go to the owners, managers and etc. and explain the problems. We are not talking about minor problems like countertops. I am talking about just getting in.
We will go back 30 days later and nothing will have changed. I remember once we were told by one business that they didn’t know they were in violation and that no one else has ever complained. We asked that it be fixed. When we asked a friend to go back just 30 days later, it wasn’t fixed, and they were told the same story. So these businesses that say they should be warn first are just making excuses. By the way, if you couldn’t reach the condiment counter how would you feel? This might have been the tenth time he faced a barrier of some sort in one day. We have often zipped in and out of a store that isn’t accessible. Why would he want to buy a hot dog or hamburger there if he couldn’t doctor it up the way he likes?
Some businesses try to intimidate the disabled. For instance, New Port Beach told us that if we complained about the one disabled parking space in Balboa, they would remove it and then there would be none.
In the year 2005, I had a knee replacement and used a wheelchair to go shopping in the mall. I needed to buy a swimming suit for therapy. Disaster! over half the stores had aisles too narrow to even get into the shops. Even the big stores like Penney’s and Macy’s that have big center aisles have racks so close together that get near the swim suit racks that were not close to the main aisles.
In my opinion, there would not be a market for lawyers or people to make money from litigation if the communities enforced the laws instead of leaving it up to the disabled person who by now is “angry as hell and doesn’t want to take it anymore”. Where are the Chambers, why aren’t they out protecting their own by dealing with compliance issues and helping new businesses meet the criteria. My husband and I enjoy shopping and going places. I especially love eating out. However, every time we go out we face not one, not two, but several barriers. Many times we have to sit in places that are too close, too far, or off to the side where the view is terrible. Once we went to the Rose Bowl and to get to the disabled seating, we had to push wheelchairs over a wet grassy area (which was the only route) and of course we got stuck in the mud.
I would love that these men would make our world accessible so that we could go about our days without running into problems. The problem of accessibility doesn’t only affect the person with the disability, but his family and his friends. Since my husband’s stroke, we have lost the companionship of going places together with friends. Oh, yes we try, but we always have to sit in a special spot. Even when we go with our own family, my husband and myself must sit one place, and everyone else sits someplace else. This is a result of venues only have special wheelchair seating that allows for only one caregiver per chair. Forget going anywhere if your friend is in a wheelchair, too because many places have only one wheelchair space.
Yes, These men your wrote about may have ulterior motives, but hurray for them because no one else seems to worry about plight of persons with disabilities. The laws have been on the books for years, and yet we still get people saying that they didn’t know it was the law. When you point it out, they say something stupid like, “Oh, we are grandfathered in and don’t have to do that.” Sometimes when you try to be the nice guy and do it in a manner that is informative giving them plenty of time to rectify, they drag their feet. Sometimes it is a matter of just moving a box, a pole, or reducing the door pressure. I know of a business man that was told that his counter was too high, and he went out and for $12 created a special shelf the correct height. We do go to his store often. Then there was another business faced with the same problem by another individual: Hired a lawyer, went to court, and won. He was proud that no disabled person was going to extort him. I think it only cost him $5,000.
It doesn’t make sense to me. Why are people so insensitive. Among our friends who have disabilities we always say that our minority group has an open enrollment policy, and membership into it is only a gene, a germ, or an accident away.
Sometimes people just don’t understand the changing environment. Being disabled isn’t suppose to be a life sentence to home confinement. With today’s medicines and technology advancements, people with disabilities can have the opportunity to enjoy life out and about, too. With many of us living longer, the fact is that we will all have some sort of disability in our old age.
As a writer, just remember the guidelines and attitudes you support today will be the ones that formulate your treatment in the future. Ask yourself, is that thought comforting or does it scare the hell out of you!
Marilynn Pike
2102 Traynor Ave., Placentia, CA 92870 714-961-1481
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