Another d**ned learning experience... (sigh).  When I phone
ahead to ask whether someplace is "wheelchair accessible", people
assure me it is.  What this means to them, however, is usually something
like the following:

 *  We have a lift, but it works only when there's no load on it.

 *  The doorway might accommodate a wheelchair, with a sixteenth of an inch to
    spare on either side.  That's all that really matters, isn't it?  What you
    intend to do once you get in there is no concern of mine.

 *  Maybe somebody can let you in the back door.  If you need a washroom, it's
    at the other end of the parking lot a quarter of a mile away.

 *  The closet where we store high chairs, mops & brooms, ladders, and various
    other oddments we couldn't find a home for has a toilet & sink in it.  The
    designers didn't think about where we were going to put stuff like that...
    not to mention service carts, wastebaskets, etc.  And it never occurred to
    us that some of our clients might want to use it for its original purpose.


           To make a long story short, I've learned to ask "How can I
go from A to B with a wheelchair?"  They'll often give directions with
some indication of what we might encounter along the way... for example,
"You'll have to carry the wheelchair upstairs."  I get the drift
there although they've neglected to tell me that if we can't carry the
chair up the stairs we'll have to leave it on the sidewalk by the door,
fifty yards away & out of sight from where we want to go, and before
we've got close enough to read the sign saying "This lift is for the
use of Senior's [sic] only."  They may mean well... but they just
don't get it. Since they've never had any personal experience with such
matters, they haven't noticed minor details like the eight-inch steps which
must be negotiated before entering the lobby.  Even when they're looking
straight at the chair they don't get it.  Here it is in a nutshell...

                       Cost of chair:      $14,000
                       Value of occupant:  priceless
                       GVW:                450 lbs.

And they want us to do what??  Uh-uh!  We can spell it for them, and they
still don't get it.  Males & females seem to be equally dense that way,
incidentally. But I trust the good folks in SURVIVOR are a bit quicker on
the uptake....  :-)


           Also on a more positive note... we went to a thrift sale at a
nearby church recently.  The person who answered the phone told me building
xxx is not wheelchair accessible, although building yyy can be reached by
way of a ramp at the back (which I already knew about).  We went to
building yyy first, where an older man immediately opened the door for us
despite the sign saying "Volunteer Staff Only."  I'm quite fed up
with such meaningless rules... but I digress!  I asked this man whether we
could get to the other building.  He instructed me to go down the alley
& look for a sidewalk between the two.  An older lady who had overheard
our conversation said "I'm going that way... I'll show you."  The
man at the door enquired in a friendly tone "Do I know you?"  I
said "Probably not, but I'll bet you know the lady right behind
us."  By this time, of course, Nora had successfully negotiated the
ramp where (according to the same lady) someone else had gone arse over
teakettle a few days earlier... as well as the mud hole nobody had told us
about... and figured out where the door to building xxx was. Other people
consider Nora to be mentally handicapped.  IMHO she's smarter than they are
sometimes.  Anyway, the second man let us in immediately too....  :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+