You know, if I’m learning anything from this broken leg experience it’s that disability access still isn’t quite as common as it looks on the surface of things.
I’m also finding out just how many rude people populate our world thanks to various honking horns, stares and almost getting run over in a designated crossing section.
Though the seemingly “less” rude bunch that happens to wave at me as they narrowly miss hitting me with their vehicles gets on my nerves the worst!
It’s like they see me scooting along enough to notice me, but not enough to care as they roll through the crosswalk section.
Still, I’m grateful to my orthopedic doctor for writing me a prescription for temporary disability parking placards.
Sure, a brick-and-mortar business could have a sprinkling of handicapped accessible parking spots – but that’s also dependent on the size of said business.
Big box stores like Walmart, Target, and HEB have their parking spots in prime placements at the front of the store and their subsequent entries are even with the store’s foundation.
Other, smaller businesses have to make do with whatever parking they have available.
Especially if the business didn’t construct or design the building and parking lot they own!
Plus, any business that’s leasing a spot has no control over the parking at their location either!
While parking in those spots has made it a shorter trek from the car to the store, there’s still a matter of getting around in the store itself.
For short, quick trips I can maneuver my knee scooter around and am incredibly lucky to have mom hovering close beside me just in case.
We’ve elected to forgo the crutches mostly because they’re harder for me to get a rhythm going and hurt my wrist more the longer I use them.
And I noticed I was more likely to put weight on my injured leg – a no-no and strictly reprimanded point made by my doctor.
Thanks to this injury and subsequent downtime, my stamina tanks and hits rock bottom harder and faster than being tackled by a Division 1 MVP trophy-winning defensive tackle.
Sometimes, mom goes into the store first and finds me a riding cart to help make longer trips more bearable.
And while electric carts are common, Hobby Lobby still only had a regular wheelchair with a basket attachment to borrow for shopping.
While I might be noticing this sort of stuff more now due to my temporary experience, I do remember having similar observations when helping care for my grandmother and hanging out with my disabled friends, too.
I suppose that’s what makes this the saddest thing to notice – it’s been years for each of those experiences and yet nothing seems to change or get any better.
When you look at it historically, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was only signed into law in 1990.
Even then, the ADA was only an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
So, you’re telling me that it took over 25 years to outlaw discrimination based on disabilities, impose public accessibility requirements, and make employers provide reasonable accommodations for those disabled employees?
Wow!
For all of the nation’s boasting about being the best or greatest, we sure seem to be inching along in treating everyone with equal kindness and compassion in the hopes of maintaining a decent quality of life across the board.
