A few days ago hubby and I went to get tickets for the new Indiana Jones movie (don’t even get me started on how crappy the movie was … just made me miss the “original” Indiana Jones movies. Also, hubby and I got kind of sad thinking that our kids will think of this movie as the “Indiana Jones” movie not the “original” movies … just sad, thank goodness for DVD’s). Anyway, as we were going to get the tickets we passed a guy wearing a shirt with this on it (I hope you can make it out). It says “I’m only in it for the parking” with a disabled parking symbol.

The guys wearing it was totally not disabled. He was just some random guy. Both hubby & I had to pass him as we got into the ticket line, we both were a bit perplexed in a “WTF is this guy thinking!?” kind of way. I tried to make eye contact with him, but he looked away as we passed. I hope he realized what a stupid shirt to wear if you’re not disabled. It would be like me wearing a shirt that said “I’m only black for the affirmative action”. Yeah, totally not right – me being a very pasty white person. If I ever see this guys again I would love to run right into the back of his legs, perhaps he’ll need a disabled parking placard after … although I wouldn’t want some looser taking up my valued parking. Ug.

]]> http://inanemusings.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/not-part-of-the-club/feed/ 0 karenferguson Disabled Parking T-Shirt http://inanemusings.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/people-are-stupid/ http://inanemusings.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/people-are-stupid/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:50:51 +0000 karenferguson http://inanemusings.wordpress.com/?p=127 ]]>

The world is made up of all kinds of people, why is it that most of the stupid ones get caught on tape doing terrible things.

Exhibit A:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23142859#23142859

If you’re too busy to click the link above, here’s basically what happened.  A man named Brian Sterner who is a quadriplegic, was arrested on a traffic violation.  A deputy at the Hillsborough Co. Sheriff’s Office in Florida didn’t believe Sterner was a quadriplegic. She walked behind him, and proceeded to dump Sterner to the floor.  Sterner thinks he broke a couple of ribs.

This was all caught on tape, and Sterner is going after everyone involved – kaching for Sterner.

Can you believe this happened?  But as my title of this post states – people are stupid.  And if there’s a video recorder running somewhere, you can bet some stupid person is being caught on it doing something … stupid.

Christ. People. So, I’m with my husband at Trader Joe’s today. We are pushing along the relatively tiny frozen food isle (me behind him, both of us gazing down at frozen green beans) when a clerk climbs down off her ladder and leans in to tell us something. Okay … here it comes some lame ass comment, and surprise she didn’t let me down. She says: “I saw you both over there and it looked like you had a tandem wheelchair!” My eye rolling begins. She goes on to add, “What a great idea!”. More eye rolling on my part and a little sad nod. Hubby lets out a tiny sigh and a sad laugh as we try to get back to shopping. Now, if you can believe it this is not the first time I’ve heard such a lame comment. The “tandem wheelchair” line has been uttered before. Wrap your heads around that for a moment.

Anyway, being the stereotypical “bitter disabled person” I get really pissed. I say to hubby “What the hell!? Can’t we just go grocery shopping!” I say this low enough not to make a scene, but loud enough for Trader Joe clerk to here us, and I hope she did. Then I start to feel really self conscious and really disabled. I just don’t get people sometimes.

To top off my Trader Joe’s shopping experience, the checker made the comment that I was buying a lot of snack products. And frankly, I was. The Super Bowl is this weekend and we are going to have company. So I bought a lot of chips, beer and microwavable yummies. I guess she disapproved of the lack of vegetables and “proper” meals. I shot back with it’s Super Bowl weekend! And she nodded. Not a nod of recognition, but a nod of ‘Yes, but you still should have a bag of carrots somewhere!’ Then she makes sure I can see the ATM card swiping thing, by saying “Are you sure you can read that?” Jesus! I had already swiped my card and she was printing out the receipt. Yeah, I think I can read the ATM card thing. Ahh!

So, I leave Trader Joe’s with lots of black bean & cheese Taquitos and the feeling of being really really disabled.

We live in a litigious society. If something bugs us, we sue them or at least write an indigent letter or even email. This is known all-too-well within the disabled community. We’ve all heard of some guy suing some business because the mirror in the bathroom was too high and winding up with lots ‘o money in the bank. Is this fair? I’m all for ADA codes, but sometimes things can go a bit too far. Just read this article.

Tonight hubby & I ate dinner at The Galley restaurant in downtown Morro Bay. Delicious sea food, great view of the bay and we both got the five star treatment. Why such nice service? It’s not because we’re big tippers. It’s because we’re in wheelchairs. To them, they see lawyers and money being flung about. You see, The Galley has been in the process of remodeling for years now ever since Jarek Molski (a man who is in a wheelchair from a motorcycle accident in 1988) decided to sue them over some such nonsense related to accessibility (think paper towel dispensers too high). Hubby (while in college) had dinned at The Galley on numerous occasions prior to the remodeling with out making a federal case. Now, to understand the restaurant scene in Morro Bay you must know that most of the buildings are old, creaky and built sometime in the 1960’s. They are mostly fish joints that somehow turned into fancy restaurants. You don’t expect these places to be exactly up to code, but Molski apparently did and got busy suing. Some restaurants closed and some just paid out money to quite the situation. The Galley however, got busy rebuilding.

All this suing has made many restaurants uneasy when they see hubby and I push in. It’s the subtle way the waiter or manager will come and check on our table every 10 minutes. We’ll arrive at a restaurant at six and expect to wait 15 minutes for a table, but instead they’ll whisk off that ‘reserved’ sign and set us at the table with the great view. I feel bad for the other couple that called hours earlier and requested that table. Sorry, but wheelchair trumps reservation. Does this make me happy? Perhaps for a moment (I feel like a celebrity!) but really, it makes me mad.

A few years ago I was trying to get an internship at a design firm. I went to an interview at a kitchen and bath place. They loved my work and all my designs & I was at the top of my class (dean’s medalist nominee … etc.) any firm would be lucky to have me. However, a week later I found out from a teacher they were not going to hire me. Instead, they were hiring three of my classmates to do the job I wanted. I was pissed! Their reason? They were afraid I’d sue them because their bathrooms were not up to code. I was stunned. Could they do that? At the time I was a stupid student just trying to get my degree and be done with college, I didn’t want the hassle of getting into something and having it blow up in my face. For the rest of my senior year I struggled to find an internship. I blame this struggle on not only the crappy selection of design firms in the Central Valley but also because of people like Jarek Molski and our litigious society.

So, do we sue when we find an infraction of the ADA code? Or do we let it slide. Why have an American’s With Disabilities Act when businesses will not even comply with it? Frankly, I’m the kind of person to let it slide. If a business will not make a few accommodations to allow me access they don’t need my money. Sure, I’ll complain to the manager and suggest something be changed – but at what price do we pay (or have the business pay) for such violations.

If you are confused by my title, you might be interested to know that “toaster” is slang for Honda Elements & Toyota Scions. Just a few days ago hubby and I purchased a new (to us anyway, it was used but in beautiful condition) accessible Honda Element for me to drive. It just makes sense to have another accessible vehicle that’s easy for both of us to ride around it. I truly adore my Prius, but practicality wise it’s not the best for us.

Anyway, what a wonderful car. It’s black and is so clean and pretty. Just in time for Halloween with hubby’s orange Element – hee hee.

Ug. People. As hubby and I were leaving our very nice dinner some crazy lady in a funny hat said “God bless you both. You people in those wheelchairs.” If my brain were functioning more, I would have replied with something like “Thanks for ruining a perfectly good dinner.” Or something as harsh. I just can’t stand people like that. Now, I realize she was a crazy lady in a weird hat, but still, it kind of soured the evening.

So, I got home and found this posted on a thread on a site I like to frequent (it’s for people like me who apparently need God to bless them).

It’s great and if you’re an atheist or an agnostic (get off the fence already) you’ll enjoy it:

God bless youtube

Hey I’m back! And, I’ve come a rantin’.

Now, you may remember that hubby and I are in wheelchairs. Sure, we’re an oddity but why is it that strangers feel they need to share their own weird disabilities or ailments with us? Frankly, I really don’t want to hear about your arthritis or your strange foot disease. Oh, you might be in a chair someday? That’s great we’ll add you to the “wheelchair users club”. We meet every Thursday and bitch about people like you! I’ve had many people just start sharing their ailments with me in the darnedest places – the grocery store, the mall, on a walk, standing (or sitting) in line at the bank … just random places. This makes me really uncomfortable and self conscious. I’m not your doctor! Like today on a walk with hubby, I had a woman tell me she had no cartilage in her feet and that she might have to have her bones fused. I responded with a kindly “That’s rough!” Followed by a sad facial expression. Can’t I just walk around my neighborhood in peace! Oh, and her conversation started with the dreaded racing statement (see next paragraph), so you could imagine I was already ticked. I guess they could see how I might understand and feel pity for them, but really … if you’re not a paraplegic or a quadriplegic I really have nothing in common with you.

Also, why is it that when ever hubby & I go for a walk fellow walkers most of the time make the ever so cute little remark that goes something like this: “Hey! Looks like you’re racing!” “Who’s winning the race?” … You get the idea. NO WE’RE NOT RACING! And this statement is not cute. We would really appreciate it if you’d stop asking if we’re racing. You’d never say that to a couple just walking together: “Hey! Are you two power-walking together?”. Geez. You see, we are just a happily married couple on a walk, minding our own business and enjoying our peaceful town.

Ok, one more annoyance for today and then I’m done. In a parking lot today we saw a woman pull into a handicapped parking space without a placard then go into a store for a second. Hubby & I were pissed. Glaring at her car and at her. Then, the woman came out of the store and was going to her car right as we were opening our accessible Honda Element. She then had the nerve to say: “I’ve gotta get one of those!” referencing the Element. Hubby proceeded to say: “First you have to have a placard!”. Right on hubby!

Rant over. Whew.

Hubby & I are considering purchasing another accessible vehicle. Right now we have an accessible Honda Element and a regular Toyota Prius with hand controls which I drive. But, It’s kind of a pain in the ass to load both of our chairs into the Prius whenever we want to drive together, thus we are considering buying an accessible Chrysler PT Cruiser. We would get the PT Rider one, so I could drive from the “regular” seat and dismantle my chair and hubby could stay in his chair and tie down on the passenger side. I’d hate to sell my Prius (not only will I miss getting 40+ miles per gallon, I will also hate having an American Car).

Maybe I’ve been brainwashed, but to me American cars are unreliable and gas guzzlers. I would never ever think of purchasing an American car. Our Honda Element will get about the same gas millage as the PT Cruiser (a much smaller car) that just doesn’t make sense to me. I was looking around on the internet and found that the PT Cruiser can be made into a hybrid car, but I don’t know if that would work will the accessible conversion that we’d have. Meh, I just wish there were more accessible converted vehicles that aren’t mini vans or American made cars. We were so happy when we heard the Element was being converted. Anyway, for the moment we are going to make the Prius and the Element work.

No, I’m not going to go into a Seinfeld comedy routine on how they are the “mirage” of parking spaces. I actually need them. Yes, NEED them. Hubby has an accessible Honda Element, so he needs the hash marks to unfold the ramp and get out of the car. No handicapped spot? No getting out of the car (we’ve double parked before, but there’s always a chance we’ll get a ticket). I need the hash marks to assemble my chair from my Prius (yes I know, a green party member who drives a hybrid – how cliché).

Now again, this is just my pure subjective judgment – but what’s with all the elderly people with handicapped placards? Last time I checked being old wasn’t a disability. And when you’re that old and have a handicapped placard isn’t it time to maybe think about not driving? Hubby & I have been forced to just turn around and leave restaurants, shops…etc. because all the handicapped spots were taken. Do they need the hash marks to assemble a wheelchair or unfold a ramp? Probably not. I have actually never seen a person in a wheelchair get out of a handicapped spot at a public place. NEVER & I lived in San Diego – over 1,000,000 people and I NEVER saw another person in a wheelchair in a handicapped spot.

Another handicapped spot taker is the person who technically has a disability but isn’t visible. The lung disease, the heart condition…etc. Now I feel for them I do, however, when there’s a regular spot closer to the door, don’t take the handicapped spot that’s further away just because you have the placard. Let me state that again. Just because you have the placard doesn’t mean you HAVE TO USE IT! Park in a regular spot next to the handicapped spot and walk extra two steps. Taking those two extra steps isn’t life treating, is it?

This last group might upset some but this is my blog, so here it goes. Overweight people and handicapped placards. I’ve seen this many times. Usually the weight does bring on a disability – maybe a breathing problem, but what do you need the hash marks for? Again, just because you have the placard doesn’t mean you have to use it!

People just don’t think. And apparently doctors who give out these placards don’t think as well. So if you are one of these groups I’ve mentioned above, please think of my husband and me when parking.