A Day in the Life
Plan to Improvise
Able-bodied people take for granted that their needs will be accommodated when they are out in public. People with disabilities ought to be able to have similar expectations, but they cannot.
Imagine you would like to spend a full day away from home. Whether you succeed will depend primarily on three major pieces of equipment: a power wheelchair; the van manufactured at the factory; and the after-market modifications to make the van wheelchair-friendly.
As with most mechanical things, all of them can and will malfunction intermittently, sometimes at the least convenient time or in the least convenient location--or both.
In the past, your wheelchair has suddenly stopped moving, your van has failed to start, and your van's access ramp has failed to deploy, trapping you in or shutting you out.
You leave your house with a small measure of background anxiety, knowing you may have to improvise a creative solution under trying circumstances. For the sake of simplicity, assume that all your equipment functions optimally. This offer is good for today only!
Restaurants, Restrooms, and Retail
You're meeting a friend for brunch at a restaurant that is new to you. The curbs outside are too high for deploying the ramp on your van, so you have to hunt for parking until you finally find a spot several blocks away. You are delayed further by the absence of curb cuts and the shortage of accessible driveways you often use as an alternative. You apologize for being late.
Your friend was pretty sure the place was accessible. However, all of the tables have pedestal bases that interfere with your footrests.
You decide to stay rather than go somewhere else, but you have to sit far away from your food and eat in a hunched-over position that strains your back and neck. Also, the tables are so close together that waiters and customers bump into your chair several times during your meal.
When you're ready to leave, you thread your way carefully between tables, chairs, and people to get to the restroom. The hallway isn't wide enough to permit a turn through the doorway. Fortunately, you know a café just a few doors away has accessible facilities. They are for customers only, so you order a small coffee because it's the cheapest item on the menu.
You say goodbye to your friend and roll further down the block to a bookstore. You're discouraged that you can't browse most of the shelves because they are too tall and the aisles are too narrow. But a clerk at the front desk locates a book you're eager to read, and you count the visit a success.
On the way back to your van you see an inviting gift store. As soon as you enter, you're dismayed to see so many delicate items displayed so closely together. You leave rather than risk breaking something.
Parks, Parking, and Ponchos
The weather forecast is for possible rain later today. Right now it's sunny and warm, so you drive to a nearby regional park and find a clearly signed van-accessible space in the lot. You take a pleasant roll on paved paths, then stop in a quiet place and become engrossed in your new book.
After a while, the wind comes up and a drizzle begins to fall. Your van is only a short distance away, but when you get there you find a car parked in the crosshatched no-parking zone. You can't deploy your ramp and drive away. Nor can you reach your waterproof poncho in the back seat.
The drizzle turns to rain. You find partial shelter under a tree, but most of the water falls in your lap. You're soaking wet by the time the driver returns half an hour later, protected head to toe by raingear. They say they didn't know they couldn't park there.
It's time for some late lunch at a friend's backyard barbecue. You call ahead and learn that the event has been moved indoors.
Unfortunately, the house has five steps up to the front door, so you won't be going after all. Disappointed, you drive home, change out of your wet clothes, fix something to eat, and take a nap.
Later, to cheer yourself up, you go to your favorite theater for the late showing of a new movie. You park in the disabled space in the nearby lot and place an orange traffic cone with a wheelchair icon in the no-parking aisle. The rain has stopped, but you take the precaution of bringing along your poncho just in case.
When the movie is over, you discover that someone moved your traffic cone and parked in the cross-hatching anyway. The rain has resumed and once again you can't get into your van, but this time you stay dry in your trusty poncho.
Fortunately, the people in the other car went to the same movie, and they show up pretty soon. Guess what? They didn't know they couldn't park there.You're lucky. If they hadn't come along, you would've had no way to get home because:
- The buses have stopped running.
- Tow trucks won't remove vehicles from this lot.
- Paratransit vehicles and wheelchair-accessible taxis require 24 hours' advance notice of your need for a ride.
It Could Have Been Worse
On balance, despite your resentment over getting soaked unnecessarily, you count yourself fortunate for having a satisfying day out. You exercised your independence successfully. All of your equipment functioned as hoped, and you were able to resolve all the challenges to accessibility without assistance.
It doesn't always go so well.
Rather than see a movie by yourself, imagine you had chosen instead to visit a friend in their third-floor apartment. As you leave, you discover the elevator that worked on the way in is now out of service. Contemplating your predicament from the top of the staircase makes your head spin.
It's happened to me. I ran out of "plan to improvise" options and came up with the only viable solution I knew: Call the fire department. I leave the rest of the story to your imagination.
