One thing I have always taken for granted has been my mobility. I never thought that I would be doing what I did today: picking up my handicap parking permit at the DMV. I have been struggling with chronic pain for several years but I was unprepared for the complete loss of mobility that I suffered about 4 months ago. I had a swollen and painful left foot as well as torn cartilage in my right hip allowing for no weight bearing. Until the doctors at Mayo Clinic figured out what to do with my foot and what was wrong with my hip I found myself in a wheelchair.
One of the first things that I discovered in my wheelchair is that most businesses are not as accessible as they would like to think that they are. The hotel that I was staying in while I was Mayo had an “accessible” room, but ironically their actual building was hard for me to get into. There was no handicap button on the door to help me in. If I was alone I would have to sit by the doors and wait for someone to walk by that would be able to assist me. Definitely a humbling experience.
Shopping malls are also surprisingly inaccessible. There was very little that I could do in my wheelchair so my mom drove me to the mall once or twice. Some stores were easy to navigate; Kohl’s being by far the best store I visited. However, many of the stores were so cluttered or had such narrow isles that I could not even go in. Claire’s and Icing fell into this category. I understand that some stores have a lot of product, and not a lot of space, but there has to be a way to arrange their wares without keeping out potential customers.
Anyway, I am continuously thankful that I will not be permanently in that chair, and I have a lot of respect for those who do have to endure a permanent loss of mobility. I hope that businesses and people in general will endeavor to become increasingly aware of the importance of accessibility and what accessibility actually means. Have any of you run into stores or businesses who consider handicap accessibility to consist of one special parking spot?
I had an odd epiphany this morning and I haven't had time to write it out. I may or may not blog about it. We'll see. You'll recognize it when you read it and if you don't read something you think fits in the next few days then say something . . . I probably got distracted or something.
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